


When The Spirit's Wind Howls (old)

by sleepicide



Series: It Begins To Rain [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Animal Traits, BAMF Uzumaki Naruto, Betrayal, Brotherly Love, Domestic Fluff, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Hatake Kakashi Needs a Hug, Hatake Kakashi is a Good Teacher, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Implied/Referenced Torture, Ninken | Ninja Dogs, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Hatake Kakashi, POV Multiple, Pack Dynamics, Past Rape/Non-con, Protective Hatake Kakashi, Protective Hyuuga Neji, Protective Inuzuka Kiba, Protective Uchiha Sasuke, Protective Uzumaki Naruto, Sad Ending, Self-Sacrifice, Tags May Change, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto Friendship, Uzumaki Naruto Needs a Hug, it's not too bad i promise, the tags are harsh but so am i
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2020-10-17 15:56:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 40,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20623667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepicide/pseuds/sleepicide
Summary: It's been two years since Freyja Haztanukai was pronouced KIA, and the wound is still healing for the group. When rumors of the Sand Wolf begin to pop back up, and it turns out the spirit-holder isn't as dead as they thought, everything changes. Kakashi sees this as a second chance, and so does everyone else, but it turns out Freyja is not the same girl they knew two years ago.Kakashi, not being able to stand seeing his students so heartbroken a second time, makes it his personal mission to save Freyja from herself, and bring her home again.The thing is, the silver-haired jounin doesn't know where to start.(Second and final book in the It Begins To Rain series)(cannot be read as a stand alone)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> as promised, the sequel!
> 
> I hope you guys like it.
> 
> much love,  
carson xx

_ K a k a s h i _

I groan slightly, wiping the sweat off my brow, before looking at my team: the three Chunin weren’t doing much better, Sasuke’s dark hair making him a prime target for the sun.

Sakura sighed, wiping her brow just as I did, “Kami, how did Fr- how does anyone live out here?” we all ignore her small slip up.

Freyja's been dead for almost two years now, but that doesn’t mean it lessened the pain for the group of four, or for Sakura and Sasuke. Naruto kept the crystal she gave him and her flak jacket, Ino took most of her succulents and plants, Kiba kept Dorje, Guadalupe, and Suotomo’s headbands, and Shikamaru took her scarf. Sakura had, without shame, taken some of her clothes, and Sasuke ended up taking her old Sand headband (even if he wouldn’t admit it), as we never found her body, and by association, her Leaf headband.

They all missed her, she’d had such an impact in such a short amount of time. I could still tell it frustrated and angered Naruto to no end that we never even found a piece of her hair, let alone her body, so we’d never know what happened. 

“I don't know, Sakura, it’s literal hell here.” Sasuke grunted, “Can we go back to the inn now? I’m kinda dying here.” he turned cool eyes towards me, and I shrugged.

“Maa, I guess, let’s walk back though, we still have a week here to complete the mission, so we better get used to the heat.” they groan.

“Kakashi-sensei, don’t be like that,” Naruto whines, scratching his scarred cheek, pouting.

“Let’s just hurry up.” Sakura moans, running a hand through her hair, “I’m only here to make sure you idiots don’t die, and I can’t do that if I’m having a heatstroke myself.”

We chuckle at her expense, and she glares at us.

  


We’re halfway to the inn when we first hear the rumor.

“Did you hear? Some are saying the Sand Wolf is back.” one lady says to her friends, and my head snaps towards them, trying to hear their conversation better. The kids have heard her, too, and have decided to eavesdrop as well.

“Please, everyone knows she died years ago.” the other woman says, inspecting a fruit before putting it in her basket.

“It’s true! One of our Jounin saw her and her beasts. She only travels at night, and rids smaller villages of criminals, they say.” the first woman gossips, and her friend rolls her eyes.

“It must be a coincidence. You know as well as I do that Freyja died two years ago, her poor brother was so distraught, he barely knew what to do with himself. Don’t go spreading that nonsense around him, it’ll send him right back into a spiral.”

“Personally,” the third women pipes up, “I’d be more worried about those Leaf ninja who are here on that mission. Word is that Sharingan Kakashi had her fight Daichi Ishikawa and Karen Himua to prove her loyalty to the village.” I cringe slightly, and I nudge the kids.

“Let’s get going, there’s no use of listening to rumors.” I muttered, and they reluctantly followed me.

It’s silent for the rest of the rest of the walk to the inn, all of us sitting in a pensive silence. Naruto’s hands tremble slightly, Sakura finds the ground much more interesting than her surroundings, and Sasuke’s hands are clenched tightly by his side.

I say nothing.

  
  


Throughout the next week we stay in Suna, we hear more and more rumors of the infamous Sand Wolf being alive and well. We all tried to ignore it, but there was no doubt it was quickly taking effect on the group: Naruto was easily irritable, like a live wire, Sasuke was broodier than ever, only speaking to make a smart comment, ans Sakura was much quieter than usual. I had handled it pretty well, I believed. 

When we got back to Kohana there were murmurs, and when we get to Hokage tower Genma won’t look at us. That is the first red flag that something is wrong.

I knock on the door, and Tsunade’s quick to call us to enter.

I smile at her, giving a small wave, and I see her eyes rest on the disgruntled Chunin behind me, “Yo.”

“Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, I’m glad to see you made it all back safely.” her voice is smooth, too soft. That is the second red flag that something is wrong.

“Hai, Lady Tsunade, our mission went well.” Sakura smiles, and Sasuke grunts in agreement. Naruto says nothing.

I give a quick debrief of the mission, and she nods, smiling, “That’s great, Kakashi. Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, you’re cleared to leave.”

They stare at her for a moment, before nodding, and taking their leave. I quickly drop the happy facade, staring at the woman before me, “What is it?”

She slams something down on the desk, “This is what ‘it’ is.” she says, lowly.

I look at the object, it’s a Leaf headband; a rusted beyond hell, bloodied and torn Leaf headband. I raise a brow, and she flips it over, and I almost snort, if it hadn’t been for the noise of choked off surprise.

The initials F.H are stitched into the back of the headband, something Freyja did frequently with multiple items of her clothing.

_ ( “What the hell are you doing?” Sasuke asked, staring up at Freyja in the tree. The Chunin gave a small grunt as she sewed. _

_ “Sewing my initials into my flak jacket, because it’s mine and I like having my initials on the inside of things.” she’d explained curtly, and I cocked my head to the side. _

_ “Isn’t that a bit difficult, Freyja?” _

_ “Hai, but I’m using chakra to make it easier to sew. Now shut the fuck up before I stitch your mouthes closed.”) _

I paused, staring at it, “Where’d you find it?”

“Kiba Inuzuka found it in a clearing about a day and a half from here.”

“West?” I ask, and she nods.

“I think Freyja might not be dead, Kakashi.” the blonde woman says, shortly. I stare at her, blinking.

“She’s dead, Lady Tsunade-”

“Kakashi there have been _ numerous _sightings of her all over the five shinobi nations-”

“I will not put my team through that again.” I snap, and I can feel myself bristling like a Halloween cat at the mere _ thought _of putting those kids through that pain again.

Naruto didn’t speak for two weeks, Sasuke disappeared for 3, Sakura blocked everyone out. Ino stayed in the Yamanaka compound for a month and a half, Shikamaru started to train everyday to the point of overexertion so he didn’t have to think, and Kiba was an impenetrable ball of pure _ anger _for all of his grieving process.

“It’s not about putting your team through that again, Kakashi, it’s about the fact that this kid may be alive, and you’re rejecting it because of selfish needs!” she barked, and I glared.

“I’m not doing it for me, I’m doing it for the mental health of multiple clan heirs and _children. _It will destroy them, they don’t know how to cope with her being gone even now!_” _I argued and Tsunade levels me with a glare.

“You, Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, Kiba Inuzuka, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sakura Haruno will be going on a mission for a group of supposed rouges, one of which who is rumored to have very powerful and large canine summons that are otherwise known as ‘spirits.’ You are to bring them back to Kohana, if that isn't possible, compromise.” she informs, and her tone is cold.

I sneer at the woman in front of me, “Hai, Tsunade.” I throw in, just to annoy her further. I Body Flicker into my apartment, and my hands shake with unfiltered rage. The rage quickly boils down into sadness though: if she is alive, will she be proud of what we’ve become?

Shikamaru has become cold, damn near worse than Sasuke was. Kiba is still always so angry, his flames of anger burning bridges faster than he can comprehend. Ino is reckless, she holds no care for her own wellbeing. Naruto is bitter at the world, always so cynical, he strives to become hokage just so he can prove everyone wrong, so he can seek vengeance for his fallen comrades. 

I sigh, running a gloved hand down my masked face. Everything I thought was concrete is changing, shifting, becoming incorrect. I look at the stolen succulent of my shelf, and walk over to it. I pick it up, holding the small potted plant carefully in my hand.

I sigh, putting it back, before exiting my apartment through the balcony. I jumped onto the roof, looking over the streets. I take a deep breath, welcoming the chilled air to fill my lungs.

I see a figure slinking among the buildings. It wasn’t human, that was for sure, the beast was large, scars littering it’s legs and torso, and patches of fur were missing. I furrowed my brow, it held no chakra, so it couldn’t have been a ninken, but what was a beast like that doing in Kohana’s streets?

I shrug, before deciding to follow it. The wind is blowing to the south-west, so I should be good on it not smelling me, so I cover my chakra instead. It creeps along the shadows, before making its way into a familiar blond's apartment. I narrow my eyes, all these years and people were still beating on Naruto?

It easily opened his window, and made its way into his room with minimal difficulty. I followed it, just in time to see the large canine nuzzle Naruto’s head with its nose, eyes closed peacefully. I stopped, staring at the beast’s muzzle, those scars..

_ (“How’d you get that one?!” the excitable blond yelled, pointing at an ‘x’ shaped scar on his muzzle, and Dorje flicked his ears irritably. _

_ “Can’t remember, Naruto.” the beast grumbled as he soaked in the sunniest spot on the training grounds we were using, obviously trying to nap. _

_ Freyja glared at the two, arms crossed, and I could tell there was a disappointed frown under her tattered grey scarf, “If you two are done, Naruto, get back over here,” the blond looked like he was going to protest, but she narrowed her eyes, “ _ Now. _ ” _

_ He scrambled over to the rest of us to resume training.) _

I stared at the ‘x’ shaped scar, placed almost neatly beside his nose. There were many new nicks on the beast's face, some were still healing. I felt my breath catch in my chest, it couldn’t be him.

“I am sorry we had to leave you, Naruto,” the black wolf rumbled, like a thunderstorm raged in his chest, yet the blond didn’t even twitch, “I am sorry we caused you such pain, but that was the deal that was made.” his graveled voice was all too familiar, yet so different and unknown. It held a new kind of age, a new kind of_ pain, _ to it.

I feel a breeze against my back, and the wolf’s eyes snap open a second later, and it’s eyes land on me, bright orange, like the way flames ravage the land when the grass is crisp and the air is dry.

“Dorje,” the spirit’s name is a ghost of a whisper on my lips, gone in seconds.

The wolf, like his name, is too.

The air won’t come into my lungs properly, I feel like I can’t breathe. I force myself to take a breath, before body flickering to my apartment for the second time that night. I collapse onto my couch, taking deep, forced breaths.

I replay the scene multiple times over, and around the 15th time I catch something.

_ ‘He dispersed, but Freyja wasn’t there to disperse him, _ ’ I feel a watery, proud grin tug at my lips, _ ‘She’s gotten stronger. That’s why they all disappeared that day.’ _ I chuckle, _ ‘She’s just full of surprises.’ _

  


It’s a Saturday (_ ‘Freyja’s favorite days, she’s probably laid out in the first light of the morning like the cat who got the canary right now,’ _ I think mirthfully.) at 6 am when me and the group of Chunin set out. They’re all slightly bitter and seem to be wanting to do anything but be on a mission right now.

Kiba and Akamaru are in the lead, with Ino and Sakura behind him, side by side. Behind them Shikamaru and Naruto are doing the same, and then Sasuke and I are doing the same thing as the other four, but we’re spread farther apart.

“So, are any of you aware of what we’re doing?” I ask, and sigh as I see them shake their heads. “We were sent to capture, or if unable, comprimise with a group of rogues.” I pause, “I’ll tell you more once we’re resting.” Naruto groans, and I chuckle.

  


We travel until a little past nightfall, and by the time we’re settled, it’s 9:30.

“Okay, I need all of you to- nevermind you’re already sitting.” Kiba was using Akamaru as a glorified pillow, Sasuke was perched up in the trees with Shikamaru and Naruto, and Ino and Sakura were sitting under a tree.

“So, the group of 4 rouges are apparently around your age, one of them is known for his incredible speed, another is known for his poisons, the third for her amazing melee attacks, and,” I glance at them, taking a deep breath, “the fourth is known for her canine summons, although to her clan they’re technically classified as ‘spirits’ and not summons, and her enhanced senses.” 

It’s quiet, I hear a leaf fall of the ground a little ways away from me.

“So she’s like Freyja.” Sasuke supplies, and I shrug.

“Lady Tsunade believes she _ is _Freyja.”

It’s quiet again, and I hear a small whimper from Akamaru.

“Don't be stupid, Kakashi.” Naruto spits, and I hear Sakura gasp, “Freyja is dead. Has been for two years.”

“I saw Dorje last night, Naruto,” I confess, before glancing at the quiet Inuzuka, “and Kiba found her headband.”

I glance around at the Chunin again, who seem to be in slight shock.

“Our favorite Haztanukai isn’t as dead as we thought.”

  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> no one:  
kakashi: they're alright i gUeSs

I end up taking first watch, Naruto takes second, Sasuke third, and Ino fourth. Once the sun starts rising we head out again, bounding from tree to tree. I glance at Sasuke, who’s already looking at me.

** **

“What crimes have these rouges committed?” he asks, and I hum.

** **

“They’re basically ninjas for hire, but that’s the thing, they don’t take assasination requests, or anything of the sort. They help take care of situations like the one we saw in wave, gangs terrorizing small shinobi-free villages, transporting important people or clients, stuff like that. They don’t kill to kill, they do what other shinobi do. The small group apparently goes by Shadow Pack, where a Haztanukai is said to be their quote unquote ‘leader,’ hence the pack name.”

** **

“So they haven’t committed any serious crimes, they’re just.. wandering. Looking for work and living life like the rest of us.” he supplies, and I nod.

** **

“If we can’t get them to come back to Kohana, as a last resort Lady Tsunade said to compromise, try to get them to move closer to us, a day or less away, so we can watch over them.”

** **

“This is because we believe their leader to be Freyja Haztanukai, correct?” I nod in response.

** **

“Yes, as well as the fact that the other three are believed to be extremely powerful shinobi, barely brushing the surface of their powers. From the intel we’ve gathered, they’re all from ancient clans, ones that are almost extinct now.” 

** **

Sasuke grunts, and I figure that’s the end of the conversation. I turn back forwards, 

** **

“So what if it is her, then?” 

** **

“Huh?” I glance back at him, and the ravenette turns to look at me.

** **

“We’re a recon team, Tsunade knew what she was doing when she threw us into this mission. We’re the best hope at dragging her home, whether she likes it or not, our Freyja is a good person, but..” he trails off, glancing towards his teammates.

** **

“But what, Sasuke?” I ask, and he huffs.

** **

“We don’t know what happened to Freyja in those two years she was gone, she could’ve changed all together. For all we know,” his gaze hardens, and his frown deepens, “she could have forgotten us all together, or worse, she could want us dead.”

** **

My step falters slightly, ‘ _ He’s right,’ _ I grimace,  _ ‘I could be leading us all to our deaths, and we’d be none the wiser.’ _

** **

We don’t discuss it further.

** **** **   
  
  


It’s two more days of tense silences and traveling before we happen upon their camp. It’s around 7 am, and I glance at the children that I can see: there’s only three, and not one of them seems to be Freyja. All of them sit in front of a house, obviously built by them, but it’s constructed neatly, almost like it was done professionally. I hum, and turn my attention to the kids in front of the building.

** **

The first girl is balancing on something that looks similar to a bat, but it’s handle is longer, and wrapped in bandages. The girl’s hair is in a bun, sitting at the crown of her head, and despite looking around 12, she holds herself up effortlessly on the handle of her weapon; her hand grips the bottom of it, bent at the elbow, and her body is contorted into a scorpion position, the tips of her sandals almost brushing her bun. Her eyes are shut closed in concentration, and she seems unaware of our presence.

** **

I move onto the next male, and I feel my frown deepen: the dark skinned male is easily over 6’3, his shoulders are probably broader than Naruto and Sasuke standing shoulder to shoulder, and the two large katana’s on his back don’t look all that gentle either. 

** **

The third boy is lean, but short, and long, balck hair flows down his back easily. He sharpens kunai on a sharpening stone at an amazing rate, and I sigh softly.

** **

Not one of us dared to speak as we watch, and eventually the girl speaks up.

** **

“You ever gonna come down, Ry? I know you’ve got to be hot by now, that black hair of yours draws in heat, and you’ve been up there for hours now.” a familiar groan comes from the top of the house, and a silhouette rises in front of the sun. She turns to the girl, and I hear Naruto suck in a sharp breath.

** **

Freyja looks the same as she did two years ago, save for a scar that drags from the tail of her eyebrow to the corner of her mouth of the left side of her face. She hums, moving her bang from her forehead briefly to wipe it, before allowing it to fall back into place.

** **

She says nothing, and I further analyze her: her attire is almost the same, but the collar of her tank rises to the middle of her throat, and her pants are a charcoal grey now, not forest green. She’s gotten taller, as well, and she now stands at a staggering 6’2 or so. Her arms are still wrapped, but now her fingers are bare, and she dons a crystal similar to Naruto’s, but hers is more like a choker than a necklace.

** **

Another new addition is the sheath on her back, and the katana sitting in it. Her eyes are still closed, and she basks in the sun for a few more moments. I watch her sniff experimentally, and she opens her eyes, staring right at our hiding spot. I hold my breath, before silently releasing it as she trails her gaze down to the other nin.

** **

She jumps down, nearly knocking the boy sharpening his weapons over, and he lets out an indigent shout.

** **

“Hey Frey, watch where the hell you’re landing!” he growls, and she simply thumps his head. “What was that for, you bitch?!” the orange haired boy holds his forehead as he pouts, and she makes a ‘tch’ noise.

** **

“Shut up, Hun.” she deadpans, and he glares at her again, jumping up and getting in her personal space, he only comes up to her collar bone, but that’s barely a deterrent for the boy.

** **

“It’s  _ Shun!  _ Freyja, Shun! Not-” he yelps as she picks him up by his hair, bringing him to her level.

** **

“Oh brother.” the girl sighs, still not having opened her eyes, and only shakes her head as Freyja throws him on the ground, before standing on him.

** **

“Shun, from the almost two years I’ve known you, you’ve never been good at first impressions, have you?” she muses, and the mountain of a man stiffens, dragging his gaze to Freyja.

** **

“Hm?” he asks, and she looks at him, a small grin on her face.

** **

“We have company.”

** **

“Huh?! Freyja, you’re supposed to be our guard dog! Where are the nin?!”

** **

“Oh shut up, Shun, I’m sure she meant some animals or a villager or something.” the girl sighs, before beginning to push herself up and down, like a one armed pushup, on the weapon.

** **

“She’s freaky strong, how troublesome.” Shikamaru murmurs.

** **

“No, Chibi, I’m talking about forigen shinobi.” she states, plainily, and in seconds the girl has uprooted her weapon from the ground, spikes protruding out of it, and she carelessly rests it on her shoulder.

** **

The man has also drawn his blades, and she sighs, “Calm down, guys, they won’t try to engage with us.” she turns her cold gaze to us, “And even if they did, they’d never beat us.”

** **

I see Naruto’s movement, and I reach out futilely, but he’s out of the tree and glaring angrily at Freyja.

** **

“What gives, Frey-chan?! I thought you believed in us.” he yells, and the two behind her stiffen, and the tall girl steps off Shun, allowing him the scramble up, tying his hair in a ponytail quickly.

** **

“That’s the Yellow Flashes son.” the girl mutters, and Shun glares at her.

** **

“Forget who’s son he is, that’s the nine-tailed fox’s holder!”

** **

“That’s a good way to get yourself killed, Naruto, or is Kakashi trying to pull the wool over your eyes, too?”

** **

“Hey, don’t talk about Kaka-sensei like that! Why are you here with these freaks,” there’s shouts of protest from Shun and ‘Chibi’ (I highly doubt that’s her real name), and the unnamed man looks only slightly disgruntled, “and not back in Kohana with us?!”

** **

She sighs, taking another step toward, her hand reaching up to scratch at her scarred cheek, “Because, Naruto, I made a deal.”

** **

“That doesn’t explain anything!”

** **

“It doesn’t have to, now,” she glares straight at me, and I sigh, “Kakashi, are you going to come down here and talk to me, or let Naruto do all your dirty work?”

** **

I jump down, landing a few feet in front of her, and I hear the rest jump down, too. 

** **

“Hello, Freyja.”

** **

“Kakashi, I see the whole gang's here, huh?” she cocks her head to the side disinterestedly, and I can see the kids behind her getting ready for a fight.

** **

“We’ve been sent to take you back to Kohana.” I state, and she hums, scratching at her cheek again, before swiping at the side of her nose with her thumb.

** **

“Nah, I’m good.” I hear one or two shouts of protest from my group, and I hold my hand up.

** **

“It’s not a choice, Freyja. You’ve been ordered back to Kohana?”

** **

“Why? I’ve been KIA for almost two years now, the kids are doing fine without me,” she nods to the Chunin behind me, “I’m doing fine, I don’t see why I’m needed, plus I made a deal.” she shrugs, “Sorry, my hands are tied, Kashi.”

** **

“Well then I’m about to cut you loose, because I have strict orders to bring you back.”

** **

“Well she should’ve sent Genma, because I’d be a hell of a lot more inclined to go with him than you.” she hissed, and I narrowed my eyes at her. She stood a good few inches taller than me, and I had no doubt that even if she wasn’t it wouldn’t change the way she was acting.

** **

“Freyja-” I began, and she cut me off.

** **

“Leave, Kakashi, and take them. Do not make me fight you, we know I’ll win.” she stated, and I straightened my shoulders.

** **

“Very well then.” I got into stance, but Freyja didn’t move. She continued to watch me, uninterested and bored.

** **

“I won’t fight them, Kakashi, not over my dead body,” she said, tilting her head slightly, “I cannot say the same for Shun, Chiaki, or Yuuto, for that matter.” her eyes are cold, and she stares me in my eye.

** **

“They will die, Kakashi, and it will be your hand their blood covers.”

** **

I growl, before standing normally again, “Freyja, you wouldn’t let the-”

** **

“What if we compromised?” Shikamaru spoke up, and the taller girl boredly turned her head towards the Nara, “What if you move closer to Kohana, less than a day or so, and you’ll be under our protection, but you and your friends won’t have to become on of our shinobi.”

** **

She raises an eyebrow, before looking back towards the three ninja behind her, before turning around completely.

** **

“What do you guys think?”

** **

“I like his dog.” Chiaki answers, and Shun cuffs her upside the head.

** **

“I think it’s a good idea.” Yuuto answers, and Freyja nods.

** **

“We’ll move closer, we’ll be two days away.”

** **

“A day or less, Freyja.” I repeat what Shikamaru said, and she doesn’t even bother to turn around.

** **

“A day and a half, or none of us leave this field.”

** **

“You can’t keep us here.” Ino points out, and Sasuke grunts.

** **

“But she can keep our corpses.”

** **

I grit my teeth, “A day and a half it is.”

** **

“Good, now leave. We’ll be there within the week.” her tone leaves no room for discussion, and neither do the ready stances of her companions.

** **

She smiles at me and then dispersed.

** **

I watch in growing anger as the rest of them do, too.

** **

“They played us like a fiddle. She’s gotten smarter.” Sasuke growls, and I nod.

** **

“That she has.”

** ****   
  
**

I’m in the Hokage’s office having Tsunade tear into me about leaving without the Shadow Pack (again) when there's a gentle knock at the door four days later.

** **

She growls, calling out an annoyed ‘enter!’ before glaring back at me.

** **

I stop as the door opens, turning around and staring at the large man and beast who just walked through the door.

** **

“Yuuto Takayama.” is all he offers in greeting, and Lady Tsunade nods, before turning her eyes to the furless dog beside him.

** **

“You two are with the Shadow Pack, aren’t you?” she asks, and the man nods.

** **

“So where is Freyja Haztanukai?”

** **

“She’s sent me in her steed.” Guadalupe informs, before casting me an uninterested glance. She’s grown larger, there’s obviously taut muscles pressing against the skin, and all the while she looks lean and agile.

** **

“And why is that?”

** **

“She made a deal with the Third Hokage.” she supplies, but offers no further explanation.

** **

“So, are the rest of your group here?”

** **

Yuuto nods, and Tsunade sighs, before the water spirit takes over again.

** **

“We actually came to see if we could cut down some trees to build our home, Lady Tsunade. Freyja-sama-” (‘ _ Sama? That’s new.’ _ I muse to myself.) “-isn’t all that fond of living in the village, as she’s been ‘dead’ for almost two years now, she doesn’t think it would go over peacefully if she suddenly popped back up one day.” she explains, before giving a small, toothy smile to the Hokage, “We’ll replant them, as well.”

** **

Lady Tsunade nods, “That’s understandable. Go ahead, I’ll send some shinobi and carpe-”

** **

“There’s no need.” Yuuto says, and fuck his voice is deep, it’s like a ravine. “Give us a week.”

** **

Lady Tsunade, who looks a tiny bit flustered, nods, “Okay, I’ll send someone to check your progress in a week, and if you’re not done I’ll have some workers come out and help you.”

** **

He nods, “Freyja-san also told me to tell you, that she has no problem helping out with some of the missions.”

** **

“Thank you for informing me, Yuuto. You two may go now.” they nod, and just as before, they poof away.

** **

“Them and their fucking Shadow Clones.” I grumble, and the busty woman laughs at my expense. 

** ****   
  
**

The next time I see one of the Shadow Pack’s members, I’m in the market two days later.

** **

I mumble an apology as I bump into someone, and they hum. Curiously, I turn, seeing Shun.

** **

“Oh, hello Shun, I’m Kakashi.” I give him a kind smile.

** **

“I figured, that’s what Freyja-san called you after all.” he deadpans, before bowing slightly, “Shun Kuromizu.”

** **

“Kakashi Hatake.” he nods, before turning away and continuing his shopping.

** **

I shake my head, these kids are so weird.

** ****   
  
**

At the end of the week, I’m sent with two other shinobi (Genma and Asuma) to check their progress on their house, which is set in the clearing in the West, and see if they needed any help. The clearing is a day and a half on foot, but with chakra and tree jumping, it’s only a few hours out.

** **

I pause as we come upon a clearing, staring at the finished stone and wood house. It’s completely finished, and I glance at Asuma, who’s gaping like a fish.

** **

“Let’s go check it out.” Genma proposes, and I shrug.

** **

“Lets, but you have to knock on the door.” the seabon wielding man sighs, probably already having figured this.

** **

He knocks on the door, and nearly stumbles back as Yuuto opens it. 

** **

He cocks his head inquisitively, and Genma clears his throat, albeit awkwardly.

** **

“We’re looking for Freyja Haztanukai.”

** **

The man, who’s much larger than any regular person should be, nods, before closing the door back.

** **

“Who was that?” Asuma asks, and I snort.

** **

“Yuuto Takayama.”

** **

“Well he definitely lives up to his name.” the bearded man grumbles, right as the door opens, revealing the thought-dead Haztanukai.

** **

“What warrants your presence?” she asks, raising a brow at Genma.

** **

“We wanted to see if you needed any help with you hou-”

** **

“We don’t. Thank you for your consideration.” she cuts him off, before glancing at me and Asuma, scowling, “Is that all?”

** **

“Do you have any furniture?”

** **

“We do,” we look at her curiously, and she shrugs, “Shadow clones are useful, and so is Yuuto’s strength.” 

** **

I nod, “It’s nice to see you’re all getting on well.”

** **

“I suppose it is, Kohana having the heirs of powerful, ancient and almost extinct clans looks well on your record.”

** **

“That’s not what we-” Asuma begins, but Freyja cuts him off, something I notice she does quite a lot to people she doesn’t exactly care for.

** **

“Thank you for stopping by, Genma, it was pleasant to see you again after so many years. You all may go now.” she opens the door, before pausing, dare I say hesitating, before muttering, “Tell the kids I’d like to see them and introduce them to the group sometime.” and without letting us get another word in edgewise, retreats back into their base.

** **

Genma punches me on the shoulder when we start heading back towards Kohana, “You said she was practically heartless!”

** **

“She is.” I grumble.

** **

“You’re just mad she doesn’t like you.”

** **

“Maa.” I wave a hand dissmisively 

** **

“‘Maa,’ what are you a sheep?” 

** **

“Maa, shut the fuck up, Genma.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> we finally learn about the deal freyja made.  
and as always, freyja being a lil bitch bc she doesnt know how to deal with her trauma correctly

I see the smallest member of S.P when I’m making my way to get a mission, who’s obviously doing the same.

I wave at Chiaki, who waves back at me, before scuttling over and falling into step with me.

“No huge bat-like weapon today I see.”

The light skinned girl pouts, crossing her arms, “Freyja-san said it’d scare the villagers.”

I chuckle, “Most likely.”

She crosses her arms behind her head, lacing her hands and holding her head with them.

“You two are no fun. Even Yuuto is more fun than you guys, and he acts like he’s forty!”

“Oh? How old is he?”

“16.” I nearly face plant from tripping over myself.

“What? He’s 16?!”

“Yeah, he’s still got more growing to do, but- hey mister, are you okay, you look kinda pale!”

  
  
  


The first time I’m sent on a mission with team Shadow Pack, is two days later, at Lady Tsunade's person request to overview them and report their skills fighting.

It’s a B-rank, a group of 100-plus Jounin level ninja who were on a murdering spree. We were ordered not to intervene unless we thought it to be necessary for the 4’s survival. Chiaki was fuming about the whole ordeal, and Yuuto had to stop her from rushing out the gates the second they got the mission, which really just included him picking up the back of her long sleeved jumper-like shirt as she thrashed angrily until she got tired. Which took over forty minutes.

I was vastly concerned at the fact that she was only sending the six of us (two with orders not to intervene unless absolutely necessary) for over a hundred ninja. Then I looked at the kids who she was sending, standing like stone cold killers, weaponed and ready with snarls on their faces, and I think I understood.

As of now we’re jumping about twenty feet behind the group, who’re unusually chatty, even Yuuto. They’re smiling and laughing, and when Shun nearly knocks Freyja off the branch, she just laughs it off.

We travel through the night, much to my and Genma’s displeasure, but when we’re finally coming up on the small army, the four seem rearing and ready to go, and are nearly silent.

We stop, we’re close to them. I can make out faces. It’s only about half of what the full group is, but I have no doubt they’ll show up soon.

Freyja turns to them, looking at them each in their eyes, “Okay, we’ve got this okay? You’re all gonna do fine. You have one rule to follow, what is it?”

“Don’t die.” Yuuto murmurs, and Freyja pats him on the head.

“Exactly, please don’t die. I love you three, okay? Be safe, now go kill people.” she glances back to us, before nodding, “Don’t you two die, either. You’ve got people who care about you, and I’m not staring them in the face and telling them you died. Don’t fucking die. Got it?” she snaps.

Genma chuckles, “Loud and clear, boss.”

She nods again, before giving us a smile, one that she used to wear before she disappeared, and they’re off.

I watch, nearly entranced by how they fight. Yuuto fights with strength and precision, his double sided poison blades, cutting down the nin at a startling speed. He sheathed his swords, before he throws down a smoke bomb, and everyone within five feet of him begins to choke, foam spilling out of their mouth as they gurgle.

Shun is barely a blur against the crowd, enemies falling in his wake quickly. He stops for a mere moment, making sure his none of his team has fallen, before continuing his onslaught.

Chiaki giggles as she swings the large weapon around, bashing skulls in without mercy. She slams it on one’s head, killing him and burying him in the ground. “Whack-a-mole!” she cries, before resuming her usual fighting style.

Freyja had Dorje, Guadalupe, and Suotomo summoned, almost as half as tall as the trees as the rip into enemies, and any ones that get by them, Freyja quickly cuts them down with her Spinning Water Blades. They show no remorse, no hesitation in their killing.

When the second wave comes, they all go together as an allied force, and the battle is over in minutes.

All in all, they both took around 45 minutes to complete. Chiaki stumbles, still giggling as Shun grumbles, picking her up. Yuuto slings her blood covered weapon over his shoulder, wincing at the weight. Freyja snorts, before she grins at them all, and tells them how well they did in the battle.

I glance at Genma, and he seems thoroughly impressed. I am, too, to be honest. They work quickly and efficiently, only pausing to see if another has fallen. Their teamwork and bond is impeccable, Shun working with Yuuto’s brute strength and poisons is beyond lethal, and Freyja’s blades and summons along with Chiaki’s melee attacks are also quite deadly.

Freyja cradles Chiaki’s face, babbling in baby talk to the small girl.

She swats her hands away, “Neeh, Freyja-senpai I’m going to have blood on my face now!”

Shun cooes at the angry girl, “You’ll be as cute as ever anyway, Chibs!”

Chiaki lets out a scream of frustration, throwing herself at the older boy, but Freyja grabs her turtle-neck styled collar right before she can wrap her hands around the boy’s neck.

“Neya! Let me throttle the bastard! I’ll strangle him with his own intestines! His skull would make a great mantel piece!” she hisses, and Shun just snickers, standing just out of reach of the girl.

“Both of you stop it! We have to start heading back.” Freyja orders, but Chiaki doesn’t cease her struggling, and Shun snickers again.

“Aww, why would we, Freyja-san? This is so fu- ah!” the boy yelps as Freyja releases the little demon, running quickly as she bolts after him.

Yuuto stands silently beside Freyja, giving her a glance.

“Nah, they’ll tire themselves out, and they’ll have to travel through the night again tired.” she answers his unspoken question, and the gentle giant nods.

After twenty five minutes of the quickest and the (debatably) strongest members of team Shadow Pack playing a game of death tag (Chiaki trying to hit Shun with her large bat-weapon. I still didn’t know what it was.) they finally tired themselves out enough to where Chiaki stopped, midswing, and promptly passed out, Shun doing the same thing not twenty seconds later, midlaugh.

Freyja sighed, tiredly, like this had happened too many times (it probably had) and slung Chiaki over her shoulder, careful not to her the girl with her katana handle. Yuuto soundlessly did the same to the speedster, shaking his head.

They jumped up to us, and Freyja cocked her head, “We ready to go, boys?”

“Ready as we’ll ever be. Do you want me to carry he-”

“Because I’m a woman?” she snapped, and Genma froze.

“No, not at all it’s just you just foug-”

“I’ll have you know I have the stamina of a hundred horses, and enough strength in my two hands to crush you like a fucking tin can.” she snarled, cocking her shoulders back as she glared down at the man.

“She’s snappy and anxious after she fights, ignore her.” Yuuto says, indifferent, even as Freyja spins around, snarling up at him too.

“You wanna say that again, bitch? I’ll rip your kneecaps off and pick my teeth with your fucking shins. I’ll have your name wiped from history before you can even blink.” she bared her teeth at him, and he merely placed a large hand on her head.

“Freyja-san.”

“What, what you you want you fucking overgrown tree?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

She pauses, before huffing and turning around, pulling her head out from under his palm, “Let’s go.”

And she’s off, hopping through trees.

Genma shudders, “When did she get so scary?”

“When she got tall.” I said, shortly, “Let’s go.”

We follow after her quickly, and she never breaks stride. Even as night falls, her hold on the light skinned girl doesn’t weaken. Yuuto looks rather indifferent too, I suppose this happens a lot.

“So, Freyja,” I begin, and Yuuto shakes his head at me, narrowing his near-black eyes, “This happen often?”

Freyja is in my face so fast I barely register Yuuto scrambling to catch Chiaki as she’s slung off from the force of her quick movements.

I step back quickly, glaring up at the girl.

“Is that your way of saying I’m inadequate of handling my team, Hatake?” she spits, and I can see the hairs on her arms standing up, and her lip twitches. 

“Maybe it is, if you can’t handle a simple question after a mission.” I dully reply.

“Tell me, Sharingan Kakashi,” she sneers, “have you ever had your mind toyed with? Used against you, killed a defenseless child?” she asks, the question sounding so innocent.

“Freyja,” Yuuto warns, and Genma just stares at her.

“Have you ever been separated from your lifelong companions, forced day after withering day to watch as they starved, and were beaten? Have you ever been tortured, Kakashi Hatake, for months, having to live with the fact that your _ village abandoned y- _ ”

“Freyja!” the man snapped, and she stopped, a low growl bubbling in her throat.

“Stay farther behind,” she mutters, nose curling like her words are as bitter as they sound on her tongue, “I’m too jumpy when I’m like this, it’s a serious danger of me clicking out on you.” she casts a glance to the seabon-wielding nin, before shaking her head softly.

“Let’s go, guys.”

They set out, and we wait until they look about as big as my thumb to follow them.

“Kakashi, the kids fragile.” he warns, “She might not be okay like she was ever again. That’s twice in less than a decade that she’s been psychologically tortured, most shinobi can’t even handle twice two decades apart.”

“I know.”

“Tread carefully, Kakashi.” 

We don’t discuss it further.

  
  


I sigh, lounging on my couch, threading my hair through my hair.

Freyja had been tortured, and we gave up. We let our Freyja die, and let her reincarnate herself as this person whose heart has been casted in dry ice. I feel a shudder rack my spine as I think of the pure, wild murderous intent in her eyes as she snarled at us, before it flicked into confusion, before reforming back into anger, almost like she was seeing something that wasn’t me.

I stretch my legs, giving Pakkun an unimpressed look as he jumped on my chest, curling up there.

“You’re warm.” is all he offers in explanation, and I shrug, accepting it.

  
  


Team Shadow Pack had been here for almost two months, and two things hadn’t happened: 1) Freyja hadn’t stepped foot inside the village gates, under any circumstances. 2) the kids hadn’t gone to see her, bitter about Freyja being alive and missing for two years.

Whenever someone asked her about it, she’d just shrug, or stare blankly at the, and mutter, “I made a deal,” and then deflect any further questions on the matter.

I decided to just ask Lady Tsunade about it, and she was surprisingly quick to slide a paper towards me.

“It’s from the Third Hokage's rule.” she states simply, and I begin to read over it.

_ ‘I, Freyja Haztanukai, completely agree to the terms* below. I understand that if I am seen back within Kohana’s walls the consequences** below will be an immediate response from surrounding ANBU. Under no circumstances am I to renter the village of Leaf, and I understand that by signing this, it is irreversible by any future Hokage, and I cannot refute my signing of this contract at anytime. I understand that I must comeplete my end of the deal, or the consequences** below will be enacted. _

_ *Freyja Haztanukai is forbidden by my and her own agreement from stepping foot in the village of Kohana for the rest of her lifetime. This act is irreversible by any future Hokage, only I, Hiruzen Sarutobi, have the power to change the terms of this contract. _

_ **Of Freyja Haztanukai enters the village/doesn’t hold up her end of the deal, she is to be killed.’ _

Under the contract, their names are signed in neat ink, and I glance up at Lady Tsunade.

“Could he even do that?”

“Apparently.”

“What was her end of the deal?” I inquire further, and Tsunade frowns.

“There were a group of nin trying to seek refuge here. Freyja saw and demanded they not be granted sanctuary, for they had killed her genin team. The Third agreed, but only under this contact. She was sent out on her last mission from Leaf: to wipe out the Blade Tongues.”

I cringe at the 14-man group’s name: the Blade Tongues were known for their brutality, and although not as powerful as the Akatsuki, they were up in the ranks. Even someone with  Freyja’s powers didn’t stand a chance against them.

I feel my grip tighten, and I set down the paper, “So what do we do?”

She merely shrugs, lacing her hands together.

“There’s nothing we can do, Kakashi. Whether we like it or not, Freyja Haztanukai, leader of team Shadow Pack, is banned from the Leaf for life.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> quick transition chapter :)

I sighed, staring at the grumbling group of Chunin.

“You need to go see Freyja, all it’s doing is hurting you.”

“She abandoned us, why the hell should we care about her?” Kiba snapped, and I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“She didn’t abandon you-”

“Then what do you call putting us through all of that for two and a half years, huh? Not coming home once she got out? Why else would she-” Naruto was beginning to yell, and I growled.

“Freyja is banned from stepping foot in the Leaf, Naruto.” I glared at them, and they quieted, and Shikamaru’s shoulders stiffened.

“What do you mean?”

I sigh, running a gloved hand through my hair, “Freyja has ‘kill onsight’ orders on her head. She made a deal with the Third to stop a group of nin from seeking refuge in Kohana.” I explained, feeling my blood boil slightly at the reminder.

“What? Why would she do that?” Ino questioned, tilting her head.

“Yeah, Freyja’s not like that.” Sakura tacked on, and I sighed again, cracking my neck.

“She claimed they were the nin who were attempting to seek refuge here were the ones who killed her team 5 years ago.” 

Sasuke nodded, “Understandable, she had just gotten her own little ‘family,’ and if she really was left to die, was  _ supposed  _ to die, I don’t think they’d take very kindly to seeing her alive and well, or with a new group of powerful clan heirs.” he said, and I nodded.

“Exactly. In return for not giving them sanctuary, the Third had her sign a contract, stating that she agreed to never come back, or else she’d be be killed, well, onsight.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty fucked up what your Hokage did to her.” A voice comes from the tree behind us, and I wave slightly at the melee-weapon wielding kunoichi.

“Who the hell are you?” Naruto asks, glaring at her.

“She’s one of the Shadow Pack.” Sakura comments, drily.

“You’re right, Pinky! Chiaki Hita, the second joined member of team Shadow Pack, don't forget it.” she jumps off the tree branch, and I glance at the twin braids she’s sporting.

“Changing up your hair, Chiaki?” I question, and she nods.

“Freyja-san says I look pretty with braids, before we came back here, she’d always complained about how she’d never gotten to braid Sakura or Ino’s hair, which I’m guessing,” she grins, turning to the two other kunoichi, “is you two!”

“Guilty as charged.” Ino chuckled, and Sakura huffs.

“Like I’d be caught dead in braids.”

“Neeh, you sound like Shun.” the girl whined, before cracking her knuckles.

“Was there something you needed?” Sasuke asks, and Chiaki pouts.

“Hey, that's not nice, cutie. If you keep it up, I might just think you don’t like me.” the ravenette scowled at the girl, and she turned to me, smiling, “This is for you.” she fished a small scroll out of her small bag, dropping it into the bag, “It’s from Yuuto-kun and Freyja-san!”

“Thank you, Chiaki.” I smile, and she nods, giving a small shrug like motion.

“It’s no problem, Kakashi-senpai!”

I choke on my spit, which causes Shikamaru to snort at my expense. Before I can say anything else to the teen, she disperses.

“Typical.” I mutter, opening the scroll.

It was a short apology for Freyja’s reaction on the mission, and I have no doubt in my mind that Genma received one, too. The Haztanukai was nothing if not self-aware.

I chuckle at the last line.

_ ‘All in all, I apologize for being a bitch, I don’t know how to handle my trauma.’ _

I place the scroll in my weapons pouch, before looking back at the group of six.

“Alright, any more questions?”

  
  


It’s not four days later that there’s a knock on my door, at 11 pm. I growl slightly, tugging up my mask and sliding on a pair of sweatpants, but other than that too tired to particularly care about a shirt. I’d just gotten back from a mission not thirty minutes ago and had fallen into a restful sleep, for once.

I shut my right eye, before opening the door, blinking (winking?) at the unknown woman who was standing in front of my door.

Her blue eyes were wide, but had a sultry look to them naturally, and nicely shaped eyebrows. She wore twin buns on the sides of her head, and I blinked at the strange, almost blue-but-not-quite color.

She adorned a low cut top, a tight skirt to match the snug material.

I narrow my open eye, “Who hired you.”

Immediately her kind face turned into a scowl.

“Shut the fuck up, Kakashi. I know you-” the familiar voice paused, before snorting, “Oh yeah, you haven’t seen me like this.” she waved, grinning, revealing shark-like teeth, “It’s me, Guadalupe.”

I nod, vaguely remembering Freyja mentioning something about her water spirit having a human form, “What's that?” I nod towards the basket in her hand, and she simply hands it to me, before bowing.

“You’ll have to see for yourself. Goodbye, Kakashi, take care of yourself.” she gives a small wave, before sinking into the floor quickly.

“Huh.” I mutter, closing my door back, and setting the basket on the counter.

I open it up, warily, and stare.

( _ “Shut up, Naruto, there’s no way Freyja cooks for you every night!” _

_ I turned, looking at the three. Kiba was the one who had yelled, and Shikamaru and Naruto were desperately trying to validify their statements. _

_ “She does, believe it!” the blond yelled back, narrowing his eyes at the Inuzuka. _

_ “She’s cooking or cooked every time I’ve been over, which has been quite a few.” Shikamaru backed up the boy’s statement. _

_ “See! Freyja’s an awesome cook, and has no problem cooking me stuff every night!” he blew a raspberry at the boy, and I shook my head at their immaturity. _

_ Kids.) _

I nearly burst into tears as the first smells of miso soup with eggplant wafted up to me. God bless that Haztanukai.

I think I did cry a little when the smell of boiled saury with salt joined it.

I pull out the note that lays gently on the top, snorting at the bluntness of it:

_ ‘Invite the kids over for dinner. 6:30 pm. All 7 of you.’ _

Then, I blink.

She just called me a kid.

I shake my head, chucklin, before opening my right eye to memorize the moment. The nerve of this overgrown child.

I quickly ate the meal, nearly moaning at the taste.Where did she learn to cook so well?

After I ate, I went back to bed, more satisfied than I’d been in a long time.

  
  


I was in a good mood for the next day, nearly bouncing around.

This immediately means nothing, though, when I see Naruto, holding a fuming Sasuke’s arm and trying to calm down a yelling Sakura around 1:30 pm.

“What do you  _ mean  _ it's ‘no big deal,’ it’s a huge deal Naruto!” the pinkette yells, a snarl under her tone.

Naruto sighed, before turning to Sasuke, as if pleading for help, and I wince: a huge bruise lays on the side of his face, a few cuts dotting inside of the black and purple wound.

“Kami, Naruto, what happened?” I ask, and he frowns, before wincing slightly.

“A civvy threw a vase at him while he was walking here this morning.” Sasuke growls, and I sigh.

“Well that’s an issue, cause we’re invited to Freyja’s for dinner.” I say shortly, and they all stop, staring at me.

“We’re.. invited?” Sakkura asks, warily, “Invited to eat dinner at team Shadow Pack’s home base?”

“They must trust us.” Naruto muses, and Sasuke gives a grunt.

“Or they trust Freyja’s judgement, they trust her not to put them in any danger.” he theorized, and Sakura nods.

“That could be it,” I smile at them gently, “all 7 of us are invited, so you might get to learn more about the group as a whole.”

Sasuke hums, “Then we should go collect them, no?”

I nod, and begin waking.

I end up collecting the whole set in a little over an hour, and we quickly make our way out the gates.

“If we hurry we can make it on time.” Ino grinned, a flush on her cheeks and nearly vibrating with energy as we jumped through the trees.

“Yeah, kick it into gear guys, I’m dying for one of Freyja’s home cooked meals!” Kiba yipped, like a puppy, and the actual dog beside him barked as well.

“Aren’t we all.” I sighed, my mouth nearly salivating at the mere thought of her food. Whoever she marries is going to be one well fed bastard.

“Ehh? Kakashi, you haven’t had any of her food yet, though!” Naruto said, furrowing his brows.

“I have, she had Guadalupe deliver me my two favorite meals as an apology last night.”

Sakura snorts, “Why am I not surprised?”

I shake my head, as the six younger shinobi begin chattering amongst themselves.

  
  


We arrived with 15 minutes to spare, and we quietly approached the door, and I raised my hand to knock.

“FUCK. Shun what the actual  _ fuck!”  _ I heard Freyja yell, and we stilled.

“I’m sorry! Please don-” there’s a thud, and then Shun groaning, “I’m sorry!”

“You dropped the fucking table  _ on my foot,  _ you bastard!” she yells again, and I can hear snickering.

“Ow! Let me up, I still have to move chairs really quick!”

“Oh yeah, we have people to impress.” she chirped, and I heard shuffling as Shun, no doubt, stood up.

“Hey, Freyja, you ready?” Yuuto asked her, and I imagine Freyja nodded.

“Yup.”

“Noise canceling earbuds?”

“Mhm!”

“Smell-blocking chakra?” he questioned again, and the girl groaned.

“Yes, dad, I’m prepared to have over ten people in my home.” she drawled blandly, before I heard more sounds of moving.

I raised my hand as Sakura went to talk, and I hear Chiaki sigh.

“Reyja, what if,” there’s a pause, not a sound is heard for a moment, “what if they don’t show up?”

I felt my heart clench in my chest, wincing internally.

“Then.. then they don’t show, we eat, and we arrange everything back into its spot.” she says, simply.

“Great job, Chibs, now she’s sad!” I heard Shun scold, before there was another sigh, from a different voice.

“Well you don’t have to worry about them being no-shows.” I grinned, Dorje sounded like he’d smoked eight packs of cigarettes a day since he was born, but it suited him, in a weird way.

“Why is that?” Yuuto asked, and the lightning spirit sighed again.

“Because the group has been outside the door for the past five minutes.”

Within seconds the door swings open, and I grin at Shun.

“Hi!”

  
  



	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> we learn some clan history

The speedster grins, “Hi guys! Come on in!” he steps aside, and I grin thankfully, stepping inside the cozy house.

It’s surprisingly spacious on the inside, fine wooden bookshelves, stools, counters, you name it, it was there. A game of shogi lay discarded on the coffee table, right in front of a couch, which had a window over it, letting light seep into the room.

There were pictures hung up on the wall, most of them were of team S.P, doing stupid poses, or from birthdays, but my eyes caught on one.

( _ “C'mon guys, it’ll be great!” The Haztanukai whined, and the genin groaned. _

_ “Why should we, it’s just a stupid picture.” Sasuke grumbled, and Sakura gave a ‘hmph!’ in support of the Uchiha’s answer. _

_ “Because things like this matter to me,” the chunin said, smiling gently, “we have a dangerous occupation. You never know if one of us isn’t going to come back.”  _

_ Sasuke huffed, but nonetheless moved to join the group.  _

_ “Kalashi,” she called to me, grinning up at me, “You coming?” _

_ I cocked my head, curiously, from where I was perched up in the tree, she wanted me to join them? _

_ “Yeah, c’mon Kaka-sensei, it’ll be great, believe it!” Naruto yelled, and I sighed, dropping down, and she moved me to where she wanted me to be. _

_ “You kids ready?” the photographer asked, and Freyja moved to her spot. _

_ “Yes sir!” she chirped, and he nodded, beginning to count down, and then took the picture. _

_ I looked at it, smiling gently. _

_ Genma stood at the far corner, Freyja was in the middle, Naruto and Shikamaru under her arms, and I was on the opposite corner. Sasuke stood, scowling on the other side of Naruto, Sakura stood beside him, smiling up at him. Ino was stood beside Shikamaru, staring dreamily up at Freyja’s lightly smirking face. Kiba sat in front of everyone, Akamaru sitting in his lap, and Dorje and Suotomo beside him, Gaudalupe sitting being him, resting her chin on his hood-covered head. _

_ “Hey! It turned out so well!” Ino said, turning to grin up at Freyja, much like in the picture. _

_ She wrapped her arms around her, kissing her forehead, “It did.” _

_ If Ino went as red as his sharingan, Kakashi didn’t say anything.) _

I smiled at the picture hanging on the wall, I actually have the same one sitting on my desk. I know Genma also has one, as for Naruto and the others, I can only assume.

“Shun once accidentally knocked it off the wall. I thouht she was genuinely going to murder him.” Yuuto said, softly as he stood beside me.

“Oh?” I asked, glancing back and seeing that some of the food still wasn’t ready, so everyone was kind of just talking and getting to know each other.

“Yeah. She cares about all of you, a whole damn lot. Everytime one of your birthdays came up, she locked herself in her room. She didn’t, still doesn't know how to cope with having to leave you all so suddenly.” he frowns slightly.

“You over there sharing my secrets, Yuuto?” Freyja teased, her hand on her hip and a small smirk on her face. Ino was nearly drooling, and if Shikamaru was a little flushed, that wasn’t my business.

“Maybe.” he teased back, and she rolled her eyes.

“You make me want to throw a tree at you.” she sighed, going back to preparing the miso soup.

“Haven’t you done that twice already though? Jeez get some new threats Frey.” Shun shakes his head, sipping on his jasmine tea.

Everyone stops, turing to stare at Freyja.

She turns back to them, raising a brow, “What?”

“You threw a tree at him?!”

_ “Twice?!” _

  
  


All the food is prepared, and we all sit down, digging in immediately. Akamaru was let out to play with Dorje after we gobbled down the food Chiaki gave him.

She made some of everyone's favorite food, and the whole group is in good spirits.

Once we finish, Freyja stands, and as her shirt rides up slightly, and she stretches, I notice a plethora of new scars that litter her skin. I frown, but my attention is quickly diverted as she claps her hands together, grinning.

“Once everyone is done eating, come join me outside, yeah? Me and Chiaki,” she glanced at the girl, who smiled in response, “have something to show you, top secret stuff, alright?”

Naruto let out a whoop, “Hell yeah!” Freyja, frowned, cuffing him upside the head.

“Language, Naruto.” he pouted, huffing as he crossed his arms.

She chuckled, before making her way out the door. Chiaki finished up quickly, following her out, but not before grabbing her large spiked-bat-weapon.

Shun pouted, “No fair, it took us months to be able to see, and you guys get to see right off the bat? Uncool.” he griped, and Yuuto hummed.

“I got to see it two days after I met you guys.”

“What?! That’s- that’s so unfair! This is favoritism!” the black haired male cried, slamming his hands on the table.

“Mhm.”

Shun gives another outraged cry, before he’s out the door, too, plate half finished.

After another few minutes, all of us are finally done and outside, with Chiaki and Freyja standing near the front of the small crowd.

“Okay, so you might notice the forest around us is a bit more full than it was before we came here,” she vaguely motioned to the forest behind her, and true to the taller girls word, the forest did look more full, “but that’s nothing special, they just look like normal trees, right?”

The Chunin nodded, and Freyja grinned, before bumping Chiaki slightly, “Ready, Chibs?”

The girl mockingly sighed, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

They quickly began doing a flurry of hand signs in sync, before slamming their hands down on the ground. Immediately, the scene around us change, and I heard a few gasps at some of the ‘normal’ trees not so normal appearance.

Most of the new trees glowed a light blue, or better yet,  _ were  _ blue. Their leaves that appeared to be iridescent, and I belatedly noticed that I could feel a faint chakra signature from them.

“You see,” Chiaki began, drawing the attention back to the two females, “As my clan, the Hita clan, are ancient, and there are only a handful of us left, we hold out clan secrets very dear, so you won’t learn about this from anywhere but a Hita clan member,” she grinned, glancing at Freyja, “or a Haztanukai. You see, the Hita’s and Haztanukai’s having been affiliated clans for ages, and while I can handle my weapon with ease,” she twirled the weapon for emphasis, “Yuuto himself struggles to carry it.”

The boy in question stepped forward, grunting as she handed him the weapon. His arms were already trembling, and I could see the beginnings of sweat on his forehead. The small girl gently took the weapon back, resting it on her shoulder as if it wasn’t bigger than she was.

“You see, Hita weapons are made out of a special kind of wood. The trees don’t have a name, per say, and if they did, it’s been lost with time, but we usually call them,” she stifled a giggle, “we call the Hitrees. Like Hita, but for the trees.” Freyja rolled her eyes at the girls hysterics over the pun induced name.

“Haztanukai’s have also benefited from the Hitrees-” Chiaki burst into another fit of giggles, “- but for different purposes. We baked them into ration bars of sorts, to refuel lost chakra,” she scanned over, before her eyes landed on Sasuke, “Sasuke, come here, and I want you to place your hand on one of these trees.”

Sasuke grunted, but made his way to a tree warily, before putting his hand on it. Not a second later, he snatched his hand back, panting.

“What the hell?” he muttered, glaring at the odd tree.

“What did you feel?” she asked, grinning. The Uchiha glared at her, huffing.

“A sudden influx of chakra, like it was coming.. from the tree.” he muttered, and Freyja grinned.

“Correct. These trees are not infused with chakra, but they themselves are the closest physical manifestation of chakra, besides things like the rasengan and chidori.” she explained, “But, it’s chakra while in the tree is too much for any one person to have while their chakra is fully stocked. If you touch the tree while your chakra is depleted, you can gain it back in seconds. Fascinating, right?” she smiles, seeming giddy over the information.

“What did the Hita’s get out of your exchange?” Shikamaru, and Freyja grinned even wider.

“Great question! We let the Hita’s borrow our spirits as cart pullers, as they have more strength than your average mule or ox, and they only harvest the trees twice a year. The trees are rather heavy, and there were a lot of them, so it was a fair trade.”

“Liar. The Haztanukai’s got the better end of the deal.” Chiaki accused, and the said clan’s heir merely shrugged.

“We did.”

The shorter of the two shoved her, although it barely did anything to move the more well-built teen.

Kiba grinned, “Hey, Freyja, wanna spar?” he taunted, and she shrugged.

“Depends, Kibs,” she scratched at her scarred cheek idly, “Is it okay with Kakashi?”

I blinked, “I don’t care, just don’t kill him.”

The two smirked at each other, and then it was on. Kiba tackled Freyja and she snorted, before they were rustling in the grass.

“That looks like play wrestling to me.” Shikamaru mused, and Ino hit him on his arm.

“Let her be a kid.” she chasted, and I frowned at the implication of her sentence, surely Freyja had gotten her chance at childhood.

Eventually, all of the chunin had started sparring-wrestling each other (read; Naruto and Sasuke), or were getting to know the other three members of the former rouge group.

I smiled, letting my gaze slide to Freyja and KIba. The taller girl smiled as she flipped Kiba, before stilling completely.

The said boy paused, and both of them sniffed, and Freyja jumped up, slapping her thigh twice. Dorje, as quick as his element, was at her side in seconds.

“Chiaki.” she said, and the girl immediately understood. They quickly pushed through the hand signs and slammed their hands down on the ground, covering the special trees once more.

Freyja’s chest rumbled, shoulders stiff and she quickly got into position.

We did, too, and I quickly wondered what made the girl become so on edge.

Then, Neji jumped into the clearing. 

Kiba growled, cuffing her upside the head, “That’s what you were so up in arms about?” he growled, but Ino quickly grabbed his wrist, dragging him away from the two.

“Hyuga.” she sneered, and Neji narrowed his eyes.

“Mutt.” Kiba growled at that, while it seemed to make Freyja and Dorje bristle even more.

They stared at each other, sizing each other up I suppose, when Ino whispered, as to not disturb the rising tension between the two.

“The Haztanukai and the Hyuga clan have been feuding for decades.” she supplied, and at the confused glances of some of her friends, she sighed, before divulging into the story.

“As you know, the Haztanukai’s were built for war. They were a war clan, to put it simply. Well, one of their greatest shinobi and clan head ever known to their clan, Junko Haztanukai, was paired with a Hyuga from the main branch, Shota Hyuga, in the first shinobi war and they were unstoppable. Their powers combined were damn near legendary.

But, although she was a great shinobi and clan head, she was a horrible and immoral person. Junko only cared about strengthening her clan. Even though most Haztanukai at the time had very enhanced senses of smell and hearing, their vision wasn't up to par,” she paused, and Sakura gave a small gasp.

“No.”

“Yes. She propositioned Shota, tried to convince him how powerful their child would be, but he refused. So, she used her water spirit, Tsubaki to paralyze him and.. take advantage of him.” she grimaced, glancing back towards the still silent shinobi. “The Hyuga clan was outraged, but they took no immediate action, as there was no proof. They were immensely thankful that Junko had not fallen pregnant, and the war ended, and the Haztanukai’s went back to Suna, and the Hyuga’s to Kohana.

Nine months later, there was word of a Haztanukai with a byakugan, named Harukai. Shota was humiliated, and the Hyuga’s were outraged yet again at the Haztanukai clan. It is said that Junko loved Haruaki more than she loved her clan, which is why when he was murdered by a Hyuga when he was four, she was beyond furious.”

“Hell hath no wrath like a woman scorned.” Shikamaru muttered, and Ino nodded.

“The Hyuga was killed, brutally, by one of the Haztanukai’s spirits in his home at Kohana, days later. Not appeased with this, Shota went to Suna himself to settle it. At the sight of him, Junko was immediately enraged. A fight of the ages broke out, and they both delivered fatal blows at the same time, leaving no winner, just leaderless and heirless clans.” she finished, and I glance back at the two, who were still having a standoff.

“Do you really want to fight here, Mutt? I’d beat you, even if I didn’t have you surrounded.” Neji goaded, but the older shinobi looked unbothered. I smirked, she was scheming.

“Back up, guys.” she muttered, and we took her advice. I was truly interested to see how this fight would turn out.

“Hit me with your best shot, shortie.” she teased, and Neji gritted his teeth, quickly activating his byakugan.

He lunged at her, and I smiled as I saw the familiar tactics. She evaded all of his attacks, and I snorted as Dorje rolled his eyes, plopping down a little ways away and beginning to lick his paws, though still keeping an eye on the fight.

I could tell the boy was quickly growing agitated with my former-students tactics, and I watched as she cracked her neck, but in sync Dorje leapt up from his place, and Neji was just milliseconds away from being able to dodge. He grunted as he was pinned, but smirked up at her.

“You forget that I have teammates.” he snarked, and she tilted her head.

“Oh, you mean these kids?” she asked, and I raised my eyebrows as Suotomo and Guadalupe jumped from the trees, Tenten and Lee in tow. The two looked miffed about being compromised, but the Hyuga looked the most pissed about the whole ordeal.

“You- you bitch!” he snarled, and she shrugged, waving a hand dismissively before tapping her thigh twice.

“I’ve been called worse by better.” she mused, as the overzealous spirits ran to her side, “What is your business here anyway?”

“I was sent to retrieve Kakashi and the group of chunin accompanying him.” he grumbled, and she nodded, smiling gently at him.

“I see, well, kids, go be retrieved.” she teased, and the said chunin griped about being called kids. I looked around, belatedly noting that the other three shinobi had walked inside a while ago. 

As we all began to leave, Freyja called, “Neji, if I may speak to you for a moment?”

The Hyuga scowled, but complied. 

They spoke in hushed whispers, I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it seemed to infuriate the younger of the two, and when she put a gentle hand on his shoulder, he snatched away, barking out what I assumed to be a particularly harsh insult as she recoiled away from him as if he’d struck her.

He stalked back towards us, fuming as the Haztanukai shook her head, before waving at us and making her way inside the house with the odd summons. 

Naruto hummed happily, “That went well, believe it.” he grinned, and Sasuke nodded.

“It was rather pleasant.” he agreed, and Sakura giggled.

“I didn’t know Shun and Yuuto were so cute.” she said, and Ino shrugged.

“They were okay looking.” 

“Ino, you were drooling over Freyja the whole time, you didn’t even look at them.” Sakura shot back, and the blonde just shrugged.

“She’s hot. I want to watch her throw a tree,” she gave a small smirk, “that'd be pretty s-”

“Can you not talk about her like that while I’m around?! That’s my Onee-san you’re talking about!”

I chuckle as Ino and Naruto begin to bicker over the said Haztanukai.

Maybe everything would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so hear are what Shun, Yuuto, and Chiaki's last names mean:  
Kuromizu (black water)  
Takayama (tall mountain)  
Hita (scarlet field)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> no one:  
me: lemme just, put a lil uh.. angst in there

Or, maybe not.

** **

I grunted as I felt a kunai embed itself into my shoulder.

** **

We’d been ambushed by a group of around thirty jounin-level nin on the way back from Shadow Pack’s base, Akamaru was sent to retrieve the four said shinobi, and were quickly being overpowered. 

** **

Naruto’s kage bunshin were being knocked down just as fast as they were being created, Kiba was slightly off his game, worried about Akamaru. Ino’s mind transfer jutsu was useless here, and she wasn’t exactly the strongest to begin with. Everyone else was starting to suffer from chakra depletion.

** **

“Water Scythe: Double Blade.” a different voice cut through the clearing, and I grinned, turning my head slightly to look at the female.

** **

Guadalupe was back in her human form, dressed in more practical clothing this time. A large, double-bladed scythe made of water was in her hands. She swung in it a half circle around her, cutting down some of the nin around her, scowling when others evaded her quick blade.

** **

Another Guadalupe quickly apprehended a nin close to me, slitting his throat. The clone made her way to me quickly, “Get back to the clearing, quickly. Your team can use the Hitrees to refuel their chakra. Go, we’ll busy them.” she instructed, and I nodded, seeing a few other clones informing the rest of my team.

“C’mon!” I barked, and the group of Chunin nodded, jumping after me as we traveled at breakneck speed through the trees. I huffed, clutching my shoulder. I smiled as a few clones of Guadalupe in her natural form created a diamond shape around us: one in the front, one on the right and left, and one behind.

** **

“Quickly, we can’t help you until you’re in the clearing. Our range is limited in the forests.” one of them urged.

** **

“Why can’t,” Sasuke grunted, holding a wound of his own, “why can’t you help us here?”

** **

“We’re best in open spaces. The cramped space of the forest prevents Chiaki from using her weapon, Yuuto from using his katanas, and we’re too large for Freyja to properly utilize us.” the one to our right informs, before breaking off to deal with the closest nin who’re tailing us.

** **

“One down, reform!” the one in the front snaps, letting herself fall behind, taking up the empty space to our right.

** **

“Can we help at all?” Sakura asked, and the one behind us grunted.

** **

“You can help by hurrying the fuck up, these nin knew exactly who’d they be attacking. This was deliberate, an attack on heir’s and Kohana’s clans.” she grunts.

** **

I frown, it deepening when the one behind us falls behind to take care of nin. 

** **

“Don’t let anything happen to them, Frey will murder us and use our spines as jump ropes.” the one to the left snaps, before darting ahead to take up the lead, as the other takes up the rear.

** **

“Quickly, if we hurry we’ll be there in 10.” the clone pants, and Ino gives a yelp as her injured leg buckles. The one now behind us dives, infusing herself with Ino, and forcing her to keep going.

** **

“What’s happening?” Ino asks, voice wavering.

** **

“She infused herself with you, you won’t feel any pain while she does this, although it might hurt when she parts herself from you.” the last clone says, moving to take up the rear.

** **

The next ten minutes pass in tense silence, although it feels like it was hours before I saw the clearing, and once I fully processed what I was seeing, I let out a sigh of relief.

** **

The trees were unmasked, and only Freyja, Suotomo, and Dorje stood in it. The two summons were the size of the house their holder occupied, and they were bristled and snarling.

** **

We all nearly crashed into the clearing, and Gai’s team looked confused and amazed at the odd trees. 

** **

“Touch them and restore you chakra, now!” the Haztanukai snapped, as Ino’s ‘possessed’ body crumpled into her arms, even though the water spirit had left her body once she hit the floor.

** **

We all did as she said, and I breathed out a sigh of relief as I touched my hand to to tree, feeling chakra being pulsed into my body. I saw similar reactions from my team, and I snorted as I saw Ino grin like the cat who got the canary when Freyja hoisted her into her arms, bridal style.

** **

We turned our heads as the nin jumped into the clearing, their screams echoing around the forest as the spirits made quick work of them.

** **

“Looks like you’ll have to stay here for the night, it’s not safe to travel after an attack like that, there could be more,” the ‘coming our way’ was left unsaid, but everyone seemed to understand, even if the Hyuuga was particularly miffed about it.

** **

“Sakura, get to healing the team, Chiaki!” she called back to the house, and the girl burst out the door, like she was waiting. Thinking about it, she probably was.

** **

“Yes, Freyja-sama?” she asked, and I noticed the way her hands twitched and the way her biceps spassmed, she wasn’t used to there being a threat and not having her weapon then.

** **

“Help Sakura heal the others, I’ll take care of Ino,” at the glance Chiaki gave her, she gave her a glare, “Now, Chiaki.” she snapped, and the shorter girl snorted.

** **

“Got it, boss, no touching your girl toy.” she yelped at the dirt ball that hit her in the back, glaring at the offending woman.

** **

“Oops.” she said, before moving to set Ino down and crouch beside her, “Hey, you feeling okay?” she asked gently, and I rolled my eyes at Ino’s starstruck expression, turning my focus back towards the rest of the Chunin under my care.

** **

Neji is being healed by Chiaki, and I could almost see a small flush on his face through the thickness of the dark. Naruto is being healed by Sakura, and once she’s done, she moves to Sasuke.

** **

I sigh, closing my eyes, before feeling a snout under my hand. I open them back up, seeing Dorje back to his ‘normal’ size. His eyes are gentle, but his ears are alert. 

** **

“You can rest, Kakashi. We will let no harm befall you or the children.” his gaze is locked with mine as he speaks, an unspoken promise.

** **

“Even the Hyuga?” I tired tease, and the wolf’s chuckle rumbles his chest and my own.

** **

“Even the Hyuga. Go inside, Yuuto and Shun have prepared the guest rooms.” he instructs, and I nod, leaning off of the tree, and making my way into the house as he makes his way to the rest of the group.

** **

I opened the door, smiling gently at the two males before me.

** **

“Kakashi, welcome back.” Shun teased, good-naturedly, patting a chair, “Let me heal you really quickly before I show you your room.”

** **

I nod tiredly, collapsing into the piece of furniture as he gently begins to heal my wounds. It seems to take forever, but when it’s done, I sigh with relief.

** **

He chuckles at me, smiling gently, “Come, I’ll take you to your room.” I nodded, following him.

** **

“Unfortunately, there are only two guest rooms.” he waved his hand, and a door appeared, hidden by genjutsu, before opening it and leading me down the hall. “So we’ve divided it into males and females, naturally, but we figured you’d want to be alone, so,” he explained as we came to a stop at a black door, “Freyja is letting you use her room.” 

** **

My senses weren’t as strong as the said females, but as a ‘perk’ from my contract with the ninken, it was stronger than average. When he opened the door, the smell of pine, dog, and something that was just indescribably  _ Freyja _ hit me like a slap to the face. The room was neat, much like her apartment in Kohana had been.

** **

The room’s coloring was charcoal grey and black, and I smiled at the brighter, different colored trinkets that littered the room, all complementing one another. There were even a few succubus, too. I hesitantly walked in, turning my gaze to the unmade bed. The duvet was a light blue and orange pattern, and the pillows were white. The identifying colors of her summons. I turned to Shun as he began to speak, still standing in the doorway.

** **

“She trusts you not to snoop, so nothings too badly trapped,” he explained casually, before turning his gaze towards me, having suddenly lost all it’s mirth, “don’t break that trust, Hatake.” he said, voice even and cold, before walking away, closing the door behind him.

** **

I sat on the bed, sighing, although not from the comfortable surface.

** **

I have a feeling he wasn’t just talking about snooping.

** **

Sleep didn’t come easily, but when it did, I was grateful.

** ****   
  
**

When I woke up in the morning, I noticed something felt off, but brushed it away pretty easily. I slipped out of the room, and into the dining room, where Chiaki was serving up breakfast.

** **

I glanced around. No Freyja.

** **

“Where’s our host?” I asked, and her three housemates shrugged.

** **

“Could be anywhere.” Yuuto muttered, and Shun snorted.

** **

“Anywhere but here. She doesn’t like being in crowded places, especially her own h- omph!” he grunted as Chiaki drove her fist into his gut.

** **

“She also doesn’t like people telling her business to people, dobe.” she snarked, and Yuuto simply pulled her into his side, settling her with a kiss to the head.

** **

I felt my own eyes widen, along with Sakura’s. Well I didn’t know  _ that  _ was a thing.

** **

“If she didn’t like us in her house, why did she let us stay the night?” Neji asked, face contorted in a scowl that was softer than the one last night.

** **

“Because, shocker, she doesn’t hate you guys?” Chiaki said, as if it was obvious, “She’s not going to throw you to the wolves because you’re a Hyuga, Neji.” she spoke softer, eyes warmer.

** **

“I believe the more adequate term for this situation would be ‘throw you to Dorje.’” Shun jabbed, only to be, yet again, punched in the gut.

** **

“Ignore him, he’s an idiot.” she said blandly, before turning to face me, “She probably won’t be back till nightfall, so you won’t catch her before you leave.” she gave a small smile.

“Alright, thank you for your hospitality, Chiaki-san.” Sakura smiled, and the older girl waved a dismissive hand.

** **

“Don’t bother with formalities. Dorje and Yuuto will be shadowing you on your journey home, they need to grab some stuff for the house anyways.”

** **

“Shouldn’t you be doing the shopping?” Kiba asked, raising a brow, and I choked on my spit.

** **

The house fell into silence, before Shun grabbed him by the head, and slammed his face into the table. A  _ crack!  _ signified his broken nose as he yelped, bringing his head back up as he cradled the now broken bone.

** **

“What the fuck, man!” he growled, eyes watering, before turning to Sakura, “Can you set this for me?” he asked, and Sakura rose a brow.

** **

“Oh no Kiba. I’m a woman, the only thing I’m good at is doing the shopping, apparently.” she snarked, and I felt a spike of pride at Kiba’s ‘oh shit’ expression.

** **

He turned his gaze to Ino, who previously was busy moping about not getting to see Freyja before she left, was now glaring daggers at the boy.

** **

He slowly let his eyes to Chiaki, whose expression was one of mock pity

** **

“I’m sorry, Kiba-san, my poor, delicate hands are only good for picking the finest fruits from the market, I hope you understand.” her voice was saturated with mock-kindness and laced with a condescending tone.

** **

“Damn, looks like your shit out of luck, Kiba.” rumbled the wolf from the corner, and I jumped slightly, I hadn’t even noticed him lounging there. I turned my head to look at him, before snorting softly.

** **

He was laying in a large orange dog bed that was meticulously placed under a large window, letting sunlight filter in on it and the other two beds, that were unoccupied. The wolf stood, stretching, before he summoned a clone.

** **

“What, what do you want?” the clone snapped, and the actual Dorje snapped, nipping at his neck, reminding him exactly who was boss here.

** **

“Go get Guadalupe to set that idiot’s nose.” he barked, and the clone growled, but left to do so. Shun quickly got up from his seat and opened the door for him, closing it once the wolf had exited.

** **

I sighed, running a hand through my hair, “We better get going after she does so, they’re probably worried.”

** **

“Oh, that reminds me,” Chiaki hits her fist against her palm lightly, turning to Lee, Tenten, and Neji, “You guys cannot, under any circumstances, speak of the trees, unless given permission by me or Freyja, do you understand?” she said, tone deadly as she stared down the three Chunin.

** **

“Yes ma’am, we understand!” Lee said, and she scowled at him.

** **

“Keep up that yelling and Freyja won’t let you within two miles of her.” she informed, glancing to the spirit who seemed to be trying to bury he face into the ground while covering his ears as best as he could.

** **

Guada arrived quickly, setting his nose a bit rougher than necessary, although I couldn’t say he didn’t exactly deserve the treatment. Once it was all said and done, she disappeared into the floor just as quick as she’d come.

** **

We’d been on our way then, thanking them for their kindness, and asking our thanks be sent to our former teammate.

** **

Despite not seeing them, knowing Dorje and Yuuto were shadowing us was a soothing thought.

** ****   
  
**

When we reached Kohana, I immediately went to Tsunade, informing her of what had happened, before sashuning back to my apartment.

** **

Immediately, the ninken huddled around me, and Pakkun sniffed me, before giving me a bewildered look.

** **

“Did you  _ sleep  _ with Freyja, Kakashi?!” he yelled, accusingly, and I sputtered, a loss for words.

** **

“What-  _ no!  _ We had to stay the night and she offered her room for me to use. She didn’t even come near her own room while I was in it.” I defended, feeling the burn of a blush on my cheeks, an embarrassed one, at that.

** **

Akino looked at me, before speaking softly, albeit awkwardly, “Kakashi, we won’t judge you. She was quite nice last we heard,” he paused, before tacking on, “good looking, too. She can cook as well, a suitable wife.” only further adding to my mounting embarrassment.

** **

“No, she’s interested in the Yamanaka girl, anyways.” I said, only to curse my horrible wording skills when Shiba looked at me like I was an idiot.

** **

“Then just make her interested in you?”

** **

“No, I’m not interested in her, she’s 12 years younger than me- don’t look at me like that!” I snapped, huffing in embarrassment and Pakkun gave me a disapproving look.

** **

“I’m just saying,” Akino began, “as far as mates- uh, wives, go, she’d be a good one.”

** **

“Shut up.” I grumbled as I made my way to my room.

** **

“Think about it, Boss, your kids will be the next shinobi god!” Shiba called after me, this time to be annoying.

** **

“I’m disowning you all.”

** ****   
  
**

The next couple of weeks fly by, with me occasionally seeing either Chiaki, Shun, or Yuuto in the markets or weapons shop, usually accompanied by one of Freyja’s summons.

** **

I collapsed on the bed, muscles sore and aching, and I groaned loudly when I felt my ANBU tattoo flare.

** **

I grumble as I shunshin in front of the Hokage’s door. I knock on the door to the Hokage’s office, entering as she calls for me to do so. 

** **

I frown, looking at the few ANBU in the room, along with the exhausted and worried looking teens in the room.

** **

“Yes, Lady Hokage?”

** **

She gave a tired sigh, looking at me, face marred in a frown, “When you were coming back from your latest mission, you didn’t happen to see Freyja, did you?”

** **

“Not this bullshit again,” I mutter to myself, before dragging my hand down my face, “No, I didn’t, Lady Tsunade.”

** **

“We’re sorry to bother you Kakashi-san, but she’s been gone for a few days and,” Chiaki’s voice cracked, before she recomposed herself quickly, “and we fear that with her already fragile mental state, that she could go into an episode and not come out of it.” she stated, staring into my eyes earnestly.

** **

“We’re heard rumors about your tracking ninken, and we’d like their services as well, if that’s okay with you and them.” Yuuto muttered, and I gave a small snort at the way an ANBU jumped slightly when his arm twitched slightly.

** **

“Of course, it’s no problem.” I wave my hand in a dismissive motion, even though the situation was anything but ‘dismissive.’ “We’d be happy to help.”

** **

Pakkun appeared beside me, shaking out his fur gently, “Yeah, the first time was just a trail run.”

** **

There was a few beats of silence, before I saw Chiaki squeezing her bicep harshly to suppress the peels of laughter that were dying to be let out.

** **

“Okay, it’s settled then, Bear, Hawk, you’ll be accompanying Kakashi and the others in their search for Freyja,” she leveled her gaze at the two ANBU, “Do not return until you’ve found her.” ‘dead or alive’ was left unsaid, but by the way everyone tensed, we all understood.

** **

We all quickly body flickered to the gates, bolting out of them as the three took the lead.

** **

“Stupid ass motherfucker,” I heard Chiaki growl, and I rose my brows in surprise, ”Can she, just once, stay out of trouble? I’m going to beat her ass six ways from Sunday when she gets back, how  _ dare  _ she leave without telling us!”

** **

“Someone’s angry.” Pakkun comments dryly, and Chiaki groans.

** **

“You’d be too if you had to put up with her. Last time she disappeared, she was gone for two weeks, and was halfway across the continent!” she hissed, and I raised my brows again.

** **

“If she’s been gone longer than usual, why are we searching?” I asked, and Shun sighed.

** **

“She always, without fail, sends Dorje on the second day to let us know where she is, and a messenger hawk every three days. She didn’t send one yesterday.” the frown marring his face showed just how serious he was about this.

** **

“She wouldn’t have gone far, she got in an argument with those infuriating spirits of hers.” Yuuto chipped in.

** **

“Retreated into the seal?” he asked, and they nodded.

** **

“Yup.”

** **

I sighed, this was going to be a long trip.

** ****   
  
**

Over the next four days, I grew closer than I thought I ever would with the teens. The travel had been tiring, but they brought a smile to my face, even if it was one of exasperation.

** **

( _ “Shun, what the hell man?” Chiaki asked, rubbing a bruised arm, and Shun shrugged. _

** **

_ “Oops, should’ve been out of the way, on the sides like a lad- ouph!”  _

** **

_ Kakashi and the ANBU sighed as Chiaki proceeded to wail on the taller male, for the fourth time that day. He jumped down, grabbing the chunin-level kunoichi by the back of her shirt and dragging her off of the boy. _

** **

_ “Kakashi-san, let me at him! I’ll kick his ass so hard he won't even remember what a lady is!”) _

** **

We all followed as my ninken tracked down Freyja’s scent, and Pakkun sighed from beside me.

** **

“It ain’t looking good, Kakashi. I can smell positions and blood mixed with her scent.” he said, softly, “It’s best we prepare for the worst.”

** **

I frown, before one of my ninken barked loudly, and I turned my head towards them, before nearly gagging at the sudden smell of  _ blood  _ and  _ decay _ that suddenly engulfed me.

** **

“Oh no, oh god.” I muttered, racing towards it.

** **

_ Bloodied pine. Wet dog _ .  _ Poison. Vomit, other bodily fluids.  _ I nearly gagged at the sight in front of me, hearing the other come to a stop beside me: bodies littered the small clearing, blood smeared and trees destroyed. Weapons lay strewn every which way. The grass was charred, obvious signs of fire jutsus that had happened, and it seemed the destruction only followed into the building. It was obvious some of the rains we’d had the past few days had washed some of it away, but there was still so much..

** **

“Fuck..” I heard Bear mutter, and I nodded. 

** **

“Let’s go investigate, team.” I muttered dryly, jumping down into the apparent warfield. I watched as my ninken scoured the clearing. I heard Chiaki gag, and I began to walk through the bodies.

** **

I frowned, almost all of the bodies were obviously brought to their demise via katana, no water jutsu or any bite marks- oh, oh  _ no. _

** **

I felt terror rack my entire being, and I darted into the building, not even bothering to pause at the shouts and barks behind me.

** **

The trail of death followed inside, obviously a bit fresher than the ones outside. I forced myself not to gag. There had only been around five outside who had died from a jutsu, but there were  _ none here _ . I checked in multiple rooms, and I tensed slightly as I sniffed, barely smelling our missing nin over the blood and gore.

** **

I stuttered to a stop at the main room, before rushing over to cradle the barely conscious girl. Blood poured out of her mouth, and a head wound weep blood steadily. Her breaths were ragged, and sounded more painful than anything I’d heard in the last decade.

** **

“Hey, hey you’re gonna be okay, okay Freyja? You’re gonna be fine.” her pulse fluttered weakly under my fingers, and I glanced beside her. In her right hand she clutched a katana tightly, knuckles white from the force. Kami, she was so pale, which was so unusual for the tan chunin.

** **

Her brows furrowed slightly, and she dropped the katana, before seeming to force her arm up the clutch my wrist. I watched, confused, until she pushed it down on her side.

** **

Blood immediately seeped into my glove and in between my fingers, staining them with the crimson liquid. I felt my breath hitch, before pressing down on the wound with one hand, and she weakly gestured to a deep gash on her thigh, and I made a distressed noise in my throat. I pushed my other hand down on it, before looking over my shoulder.

** **

“Chiaki, Shun! I found her!” I yelled, my throat hoarse almost immediately afterwards. 

** **

In that same moment, Freyja’s eyes fluttered shut and her head lolled back, her whole body going limp.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a lil FreyKashi fluff, and Haztanuaki instinct stuff

It was like everything was happening in slow motion as she heaved a breath, and then her chest stilled. I was yanked away from her as Shun and Chiaki desperately tried to heal her, to mend everything.

I watched as she shook her head desperately, looking up at the ANBU behind me.

“It’s- I’m not- I dropped out of medical ninjutsu training I-” she whispered brokenly. I knew what she was saying.

_ ‘It’s not enough, she’s going to die, and there’s nothing I can do.’  _

Shun shook his head too, pulling his hands away, before beginning to desperately perform CPR. 

“C’mon, please Freyja, you can’t die, you’re the only family I have!” he sobbed as he pounded her chest, and I heard a rib snap under the pressure. He pushed air into her lungs, and I felt my body sag with relief as she took a painful gasp of breath, before her body began to spasm.

This continued for several seconds, before I was suddenly pinned under bone-crushing weight.

“It’s just you, okay.” I heard Suotomo mutter, before he grabbed Freyja, who remained motionless, and gently tossed her onto his back, darting out the room.

“What the fuck.” Hawk muttered, before we were all tailing the fox.

We traveled with little rest for four days, but Suotomo never once stopped. He reached Kohana two days before us, apparently exhausted and scaring a fair share of nurses as he burst into the hospital, demanding Tsunade treat his holder immediately.

Which is what lead me to where I am now, sitting in a hospital chair beside the Haztanukai’s bed, where her heart monitor beeped rhythmically, and her fingers twitched and biceps spasmed occasionally.

I ran a gloved hand through my hair, before turning to smile at the chunin who had just entered the room.

He shook his head, “I can distinctly remember telling her that I’d seen her in a hospital enough to last a lifetime. Troublesome woman.” he muttered softly, smiling with fondness and something else - dare I say  _ love  _ \- in the curve of it.

“When has she ever listened to any of us before?” I murmur, and Shikamaru chuckles, before it fades, and his expression is neutral once again.

“She’s not going to be punished-”  _ ‘Killed.’  _ my brain helpfully supplied, “- for breaking the contract seeing as it was against her will.”

I nodded, and he continued, “She’s to be removed from the premises practically the second she awakens.” he mumbled bitterly, and I sighed, letting my head it the wall with a distinctive  _ thump. _

The noise was apparently enough to rouse the injured chunin, because in the next second I was pinned to the floor with a blade made of water pressed to my throat.

Her eyes were wide, pupils blown and wild, before recognition slowly bled into them and she stood, dismissing the blade and smoothing out her hospital gown. 

She smiled bitterly at the stack of clothes on the bedside table, before she sighed tiredly, eyes clouded with such sadness it made my chest hurt.

“Hi, Shika, I’ll be gone in a minute, just let me get changed.” she mutters, snatching the clothes off the table, before making her way into the attached bathroom.

“Well, that could’ve gone better.” he muttered, and I sighed.

“Much.”

When she comes back out her face is set in the cold, expressionless scowl she wears so often, and she picks up her weapons laying against the far wall, before exiting the hospital room. 

Neither of us make a move to stop her.

  
  


A few days I’m knocking on her door, to check up on the oddly-dangerous female. The rest of her team is out on a mission, so she’s alone, and for some reason that twists a knot in my stomach that I’ve decided I don’t like.

The door opens, and I’m not surprised to see the permanently blood-stained katana in her right hand. I sniff exprementally, the scent of dog is stale, likely from before she went missing.

That twisted the knots in my stomach further.

The tired woman sighs, shifting to move out of the doorway, allowing me to enter.

I smile slightly, the nervous thrumming of my heart calming once she reseals her katana back into a scroll, and haphazardly tossed it across the room.

“Sit, Kakashi, you’re so tense it’s making my battle-ready form look relaxed beyond relief.” she states dryly, lips twitching in a smile as she does so.

I chuckle at her dry tone, but take a seat anyways. We sit in silence, just silently basking in each other’s presence for a moment.

“Kakashi, do you remember when you asked me why I touched your chest, and indirectly about my aversion to stitches?” she asks, tone quiet.

“Of course.” I murmur back, and she turns her gaze to the window that lays above the (empty, obviously haven’t been laid in for days) dog beds.

“Do you remember what I told you?”

“Maybe another time, before promptly switching the topic to how you did in training that day.” I muse, and she nods, eyes soft and oh, she was still sleepy.

How down right  _ adorable. _

My little (I’d call her little until the day I, or she, died, dammit, despite the several inches of height difference.) former student could be terrifyingly lethal, wiping out a whole base of nin of varying skill levels with barely any chakra and just a katana; I forget sometimes that this was still Freyja, the girl who nearly cried because a koi fish swam away from her when she tried to feed it.

“I think I’m ready to talk about it now.” her tone is gentle, soft in a way I hadn’t heard in literal  _ years, _ and I give her a soft smile.

So she divulges of the horrors she’d seen That Day, of the way the missing nin had sliced her sensei open, plundered through his guts and intestines, before setting everything back in its place, healing any abnormalities, and sewed him right up. Multiple times.

Freyja said she knew stitches weren’t a bad thing, but the subconscious association of them with  _ ‘pain-pain-touture-death-dying-sensei-death-death’  _ sent her straight into a panic.

“She’d start,” she mutters, as she reaches over, hesitant, and placed her palm in the center of my flak jacket, right where my sternum is; an echo of where she’d placed it almost three years ago. “Right there, and trail it down to just above his naval.”

She retracts her hand, and she no longer looks soft and slightly sleepy, but aged and worn and oh so  _ tired.  _

I sometimes forget that she’s seen many horrors on the battlefield, too, that because of that, she’d been held back, despite the fact that she could be an excellent ANBU by now.

I didn’t want her to be, but she could be. It nearly sent me into cardiac arrest what Danzo would do if he’d gotten his grimy hands on her. If Dorje didn’t bite them off, first. She’d disappear into the ranks, and I shuddered. She was a force to be reckoned with now, but with an ANBU squad at her beck and call (because there was no way in Hell Freyja could be anything less than a captain, it just wasn’t in her blood), she’d be nearly unstoppable.

“So, as morbid as it may be,” I begin, and Freyja carefully slides her gaze over to me, raising a brow, “how did you take down an entire base of nin?”

Freyja full on  _ beams.  _

  
  


I send a messenger hawk to Tsunade, informing her that I’ll be staying with Freyja until her team returns from their mission (I have decided not to dwell on the fact that that could be weeks or never) as she is ‘defenseless against the masses.’

Freyja snorts as I write that part, twirling the katana in her hand idly. She seems to enjoy her blades to a fault, and was extraordinarily miffed that her one of her favorite ones was permanently stained.

“Defenseless against the masses, Kakashi, really?” she drawled, raising an unimpressed brow at me.

I’d simply shrugged, “I like annoying Tsunade.” she’d given a bark of a laugh, collapsing on the couch as she set her katana down on the table.

Now, she’s curled up on the couch, wrapped in a blanket that smells like sand, heat, pottery and jasmine and looking like a well-fed kitten. A well-fed kitten who could kill me in seconds.

Adorable.

I sat down on the opposite side of the couch, only to still when Freyja flopped over, leaning into my side.

“I’m cold, and you’re warm.” is all she offered in explanation as she got comfortable, the crown of her head resting on my collar bone.

I rose a brow, before I frown in realization. Freyja was a people person, maybe it was the animal instincts, but she liked being around people, liked to be in people she trusts’ presence. 

She’d just got back from a near death experience, her team had been gone for two days now on what’s supposed to be a three week mission, and it seems like her summons had gone with them. I give a small, soothing rumbling from my chest, it worked with distressed Inuzuka’s, and I’m praying it works with Haztanukai’s, because this could go sideways very quickly if it doesn’t.

She practically goes boneless, giving her own rumble back, and I smile slightly, slinging an arm around the younger girl as she curls closer. After a moment of hesitation, she throws the soft blanket over me, before tossing her legs over my own. I sniff experimentally, and notice that this blanket was bare of any smell of Shun, Yuuto, or even Chiaki. I slip that tidbit of information into the _ ‘analyze that later _ ’ box in the corner of my mind.

Freyja is still purring in content, and I’ll have to ask her about this later, but for right now, I’m content with just laying here.

  
  


At some point we must have drifted off into sleep, because when I crack my eyes open, the sun is setting and Freyja is pattering around in the kitchen, making dinner. 

“Did we fall asleep?” I ask, and she gives me a dry look from over the table, where she’s setting the udon noodles.

“No, Kas- Kakashi, we time travelled.” she drolly replied, and I snorted, ignoring the fact that she almost called me ‘Kashi.’

We were just jumping through the steps, huh?

She fixes me a bowl, handing me chopsticks as well, and I smile at her thankfully.

We eat in silence, and it’s not until she’s done washing the dishes from our meal that I broach the subject.

“So, what was that about?” I ask, and she gives a sigh, motioning to the seat across from her as she herself sits down.

I accept the offer and she scratches at the scar that marrs her face idly.

“As you might have expected, Haztanukai take on the instincts of their spirits, I have canine spirits, so I like to be around people I trust when I’m injured, and even when I’m not; it’s worse when I’m injured, and I don’t exactly like being coddled, so I usually push it away.” her voice is tired, like she’d really prefer to not be having this conversation, like, ever. “You can ask an Inuzuka, it might be a bit different, but it’ll have the same concept.

“Wolves have packs, you know, and I’ve.. I’ve always had one. My genin team, they were.. they were  _ pack.  _ They weren’t  _ Pack,  _ but they were  _ pack.  _ After that, it was my family, and then.. and then it was the brats; Naruto, Shikamaru, Ino and Kiba were  _ Pack,  _ and Sasuke and Sakura were  _ pack.  _ After I was kidnapped, I was in more physical pain because for us, losing  _ Pack, _ it’s… it’s horrible. It’s like having a part of you ripped away, like losing a limb, and not cauterizing the wound.

“When you guys found me, I was ecstatic, but I couldn’t.. I couldn’t be hurt like that again,” her frown deepens, “I knew, subconsciously, that there was no way any of you could have found me, could have saved me, they’d wiped my scent too well, I was clouded by hurt, and the pain that  _ Pack  _ had abandoned me.

“Despite how close we all are, none of them,” I assume she’s talking about Shun, Yuuto, and Chiaki, “are  _ pack.  _ They aren’t _ pack _ material, and my instincts are telling me I have a pact anyways, why do I need another one? Even if I didn’t, I wouldn’t make them  _ pack,  _ they don’t contribute to it, they just  _ take _ .” Freyja’s teeth grind together, and I realize how deeply rooted her instincts are, and I can see the tell-tale signs of her quickly growing anger: nostrils flaring, jaw twitching, brows furrowing.

Out of instinct, I do the chest-rumbling thing again, and she immediately calms down, not looking the least bit embarrassed.

“Anyways,” she continues, as she quickly pops her fingers, “the kids are  _ pack,  _ and I’m the Alpha Bitch-” I choke on my spit, but she ignores me, “- but despite that, I’m outranked.” she shrugs simply, and I raise a brow.

“Who outranks you?” I ask, and she looked at me like I’m an idiot.

“You do. You outrank me in skill, age, knowledge, and I acknowledge that. You protect the  _ pack,  _ you contribute to it, you’re  _ the _ Alpha. Shikamaru and Sasuke might also rank close to me, but you outrank all of us in the pack hierarchy.” she shrugs, and I nod, my own instincts rumbling in pride at this revelation.

“So, what’s the difference between  _ Pack  _ and  _ pack _ ?” I ask, and she hums thoughtfully.

“Well,  _ pack  _ in general is family, but  _ Pack _ would be like immediate family, sort of, it’s hard to explain.” 

I grin at her teasingly, “I’m family?”

“What did I just say?” she exasperatedly raises a brow, and I chuckle.

“You’re family too, Frey.” she gives me a cheeky smile in return.

“I know, Kashi.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> someone: shows intrest in freyja  
kakashi: u finna die bb

I hum, watching as Freyja cleaned one of her swords. It was a beautiful katana: black leather handle, and a two-toned, matte, black metal made up the blade. The leather on the handle is well-worn, but the katana is sharpened to a razor point, and the blade looks like it’s never seen a battle in it’s life. 

She glances it over, grinning at the slight sheen it had in the sunlight of the clearing.

“Where’d you get that one?” I asked, and she gave a small hum.

“I bought it from a friend whose friend was from Kiri. Cute guy, real femine.” she says, and I raise a brow.

“What was his name?” I inquire, opening an Icha-Icha book, not to read, but just to give me something to do besides sit here like a creep with my pack-mate (Pakkun was never gonna let me live this down).

“Haku, the apprentice of Zabuza. Scary missing-nin my ass, the guy’s a huge softie.” she tattles, and I chuckle.

“I’ve met them, they were.. odd.” she chuckles, turning her gaze to me as she sets the black-blade down on the grass, before picking up another to clean and sharpen.

“Zabuza was really nice,  _ pack  _ material, but apparently he had a bad run in with another spirit-holder Haztanukai while he was in Kiri, never really shook the fear.” she says, cleaning the more decorative-type wakizashi. Strings were tied and chakra infused into the handle, beads and different gems and metals adorning them and glinting in the light, beautiful, although obviously old.

The handle was in pristine condition, and the blade shone prettily against the suns rays. There was no need to sharpen this one, as it was obviously not a weapon to be used, but an heirloom, if the way she gently handled it was anything to go by.

She sighed happily as she picked up her last blade, a tanto, and began to sharpen it.

“Would you be interested in joining ANBU?” I asked curiously, and she shrugged.

“I don’t know, by Lady Tsunade seems to want me to live long enough to consider the option.” she said, and I tilted by head curiously, looking up from my book.

“What makes you say that?” and she shrugs carelessly.

“Oh, ya know, just the two ANBU who’ve been watching us for the better part of two hours.” I snap my head up, and close my book.

“What?”

“I can smell them, Kakashi,” she says, before smirking devilishly, “These are different ones from the other day, though, although I suppose that makes sense considering what I did.” 

I sighed exasperatedly, “What did you do?”

“Oh you know, just some naked yoga.”

“ _ Freyja!”  _ I yelled, and she just snickers quietly, obviously entertained by my obvious mortification.

“Hey, they liked the show if their hormones had anything to say about it.” she goads, and I groan, running a hand down my face.

“This is why you’re banned from the village.” I dryly reply, and she shrugs.

“But to answer your question, I couldn’t really become an ANBU. My summons are quite well known, and I’d disappear through the ranks so quickly I wouldn’t even be able to breathe.” she sets down her tanto, before leaning back on her hands.

A few beats of silence pass, and I glance around the trees.

“You didn’t really do naked yoga, did you?”

“Of course not.” she said, an offended look crossing her face, “Not just anyone gets to see this masterpiece.”

I give a relieved sigh, but it’s short lived.

“I read an erotic novel with side commentary and when I was done asked them if they liked it.”

I groan, embarrassment flooding my system.

“This is why we can’t have nice things.”

“Hey, they were being little pervs! They’d been there for hours, just sitting there.” she turns in the general directions of where the two are, before shaking her head, “I couldn’t do it, I’m too high strung. I’m more of a kill-and-dip kinda chick, ya know?” I snort, and she gives a thoughtful hum. “Although I guess it makes sense, it was a Hyuga and a Nara, they’re usually pretty calm, so I guess-”

“Freyja,” I said, voice deadly calm as I felt the tension of the clearing quickly mount, “How did you know what clan they were from?”

She shrugs, “Hyuga’s smell like lillies and clean water, and almost all Nara’s smell like grass and deer, and sometimes wood or smoke. All clans have a distinctive smell.” she frowns, eyes a little down cast.

“I don’t like it, not because it’s an invasion of my privacy, my privacy had been invaded in anyway you can think of,” I tense at the implication of that, even though Ican tell the ‘not because it’s an invasion of my privacy’ is a lie, she’s obviously uncomfortable. “But because I feel like I’m invading theirs, and I can’t  _ not  _ smell them, because they move around in the trees to get better angles of what’s going on. If I wanted to, I could know who they are, and that’s another reason I don’t want to be ANBU: my senses are gonna be used for something I’m fundamentally against one day and personally? I’m not down for that.”

I nod understandingly, glancing around the trees again, sighing slightly as I see the ANBU in more plain-sight now that they’d been found out.

She grinned apologetically at them, before turning to me and standing, “Wanna spar so I can kick your ass in front of an audience?”

I give a snort, “Yeah, ‘kick my ass’ sure.”

  
  


Twenty minutes later, I’m clutching my side in pain and Freyja is nursing a busted lip and a head wound. I give a ragged sigh, face twitching in discomfort as I put a little too much pressure on my injured thigh. My body aches and my muscles are sore, by Freyja, the lucky bitch, isn’t in any pain.

I can see her side is already bruising a nasty black-green-purple and so is her neck (I internally cringe at the memory of how my elbow squished into the column or her throat) and her knuckles are busted and bruised.

“I really hope one of them is a med-nin, because I don’t have enough chakra to heal both of us.” she grumbles, panting slightly, and I raise a brow.

“Please tell me that means we’re finished.”

“Oh no, I’m going to heal you, give you a Haztanuaki ration bar, and kick your ass again.” 

“You didn’t kick my ass, I kicked yours.” I reply back, and she looks properly affronted.

“Oh no, I totally kicked your ass. My ass is too plush to be kicked.” she cocks her hip out, placing a calloused hand on it, and I scoff.

“Look, you put up a fair fight, but I’m above your skill level, and I still won.”

“I think you two were at a draw.” the ANBU with a fox masks speaks up, the first time since they’ve come out of their retreat.

“Good things no one asked you, ANBU-san,” she snapped, before she visibly pales, spinning to the two, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Kashi is an idiot and frsutrates me because I totally kicked his ass, I’m so sorry please don’t murder me.” she says, and the bear-masked nin snorts.

“If we were here to kill you, we’d have done it awhile ago.” he says, flatly, and she gives him an unimpressed look.

“You’ve been here since 7:30 this morning, ANBU-san. If, at any point, I thought I was threatened, you wouldn’t have been able to catch me, ANBU or not.” she shrugs, “It’s not that you wouldn’t have come close, it’s just I’m skilled in running for my life.”

“Someone’s a bit big for their britches.” Bear says, and she pauses before smiling.

“Tell you what, let’s play a little game of tag. I win, you have to tell Lady Tsunade to knock it off with the ANBU, if you win, I’ll cook for you.”

“Seems like a lousy prize.” he says, and the other male beside him shakes his head.

“I’ve heard from multiple people her cooking is godly, even Kakashi.” I blink, and the obviously-older ANBU turns to me for conformation.

“It’s pretty good- ouph!” I grunt as she elbows me in the ribs.

“You cried when I cooked you food the first time.” she tattles, and a whine, rubbing my neck.

“Maa, how do you know that?”

“You did it the second time, too.”

“I feel like this is discrimination against a superior officer.” I huff, and she rolls her eyes, before she turns back to ANBU.

“Fine, I’ll let you see a clan secret.”

“Freyja, absolutely not!” I hiss, and she groans.

“What the fuck could an ANBU want? A dog? A new shogi game? I don’t know!” she hisses back, and I raise a brow.

“A shogi game?” I ask questionably, and she shrugs slightly.

“Nara like their puzzle games.” she grumbles, and I hum.

“Why don’t you ask him?”

“I don’t know how to speak to people.” she says back, and I frown as I take in the slight tremor of her shoulders, the way her pupils are slightly dilated _ . ‘She’s scared.’  _ Now knowing this, I can hear the underlying message.

_ ‘I don’t know what to do, they’re in my space, and they outrank you, even if they’re not  _ Pack _ .’ _

Or something like that, I assume. It might be a stretch.

My inner canine instincts rumble in displeasure, and I shift in front of her, and pat her bicep gently, “Go inside and restore your chakra, okay? Bring me one too.”

She nods and takes the out, scuttering back inside the house with her tail tucked between her legs.

I can basically feel the pleased air around the male, and I cut him a glare.

“What do you want if she wins?”

“She has to join ANBU.” he says, simply, and I have to physically bite down on my cheek to stop from jumping and disemboweling the shinobi.

“No.”

“Deal.” Freyja says as she exits the house, a sickening smile on her face.

“Frey,” I warn, but she waves me off.

“Can’t wait to say I kicked an ANBU’s ass in tag.” she says, and I sigh, before I take in what she’s changed into.

She’s got on a simple chest wrap, and the standard loose-utility pants that most Kohana shinobi wear. She sets a special ration-bar into my hand, and I nod in thanks.

She pulls her hair up and clips her bangs back, before she smiles at the ANBU in the tree.

“Ready when you are, ANBU-san.”

  
  


_ Bear ANBU _

The girl stands in front of me, smug and an easy air about her.

“Ready when you are, ANBU-san.” she hums, and I chuckle.

“I’ll give you a two minute head start, kid. You have until sundown. Go.”

I barely see her move as she darts off, and the Copy-nin just hums.

“You’re gonna regret that, Haztanukai’s don’t get tired easily.” he says, and I grit my teeth.

Fuck, how had I forgotten she was a Haztanukai? Quick fuckers, they are.

Two minutes pass quickly, and then I’m chasing her, running through the trees. I smirk, I can already see her silhouette. Ha, and Shikamaru said she was a force to be reckoned with.

I frown as she sniffs, before summoning ten or so shadow clones, and they mix up, before they dart off.

I summon ten of my own, sending them off on a chase for the others.

After 15 minutes of constant running, I’m starting to get a little tired. I growl, I’m done with this. 

I bite my thumb, summoning my ninken.

The large hound looks at me, stretching out on a branch with practiced ease.

“Hey, boss.” he yawns, snapping his jaws back closed as he lazily looked at me, “What’re we tracking?”

“Sniff and you’ll be able to tell, Kee.” I dully replied, and the hound just gave a snuff, sniffing the branches, before taking off after her.

  
  


We track for hours, and I scowl as I see the quickly setting sun.

I glance up at Kee’s growling, smirking at the girl as she sits on the branch carelessly. My shadow clones had dispersed awhile ago, letting me know that they’d taken care of the shadow clones of Freyja’s.

She grins at me, before scratching idly at her cheek.

“Well, you caught me.” she replies flatly, and I smirk.

“I did, you should’ve known not to mess with an ANBU, kid.” I said, and she glances behind us.

“Oh look, the sun’s setting.” she hums, “Looks like you won’t-” 

I quickly clamped a hand down on her shoulder, and she sighs, looking up at me.

“I win.” I smugly taunt, and she just grins.

“You know, I thought Nara’s were supposed to be the smart ones.” she cheekily grins, and then disperses.

It.. it was a fucking  _ kage bushin?! _

I snarl with irritability, and Kee gives a tired ‘tough luck, boss’ before he poofs away.

I tamper down on my anger, and make the trip of shame back to the clearing.

  
  


_ K a k a s h i  _

_ (earlier) _

I gaze anxiously into the forest, Pakkun sitting on my shoulder.

“She’ll be fine, she’s a very competent young woman.” the young ANBU spoke. He couldn't have been Freyja’s age, maybe a little older.

“I know.” I said, and the male hummed.

“Is she single?” he asked, and I glared daggers at him.

“I’ll disembowel you if you even graze her with your grimy paws.” I snapped, and he held his hands up in mock-surrender.

“Sir yes sir.” he drawled, and I glared at him harder.

“If you touch her, I’ll sick my pack on you. I mean it, brat, hands off.” 

“I see she’s spoken for.”

I nearly gag, “No. She just deserves better than that. Plus, kinda ANBU code violations, she’d know who you were second you approached her.”

That seemed to pop the boy’s bubble, and he whined, “I knew I shouldn’t have become an ANBU.”

I chuckled, and Pakkun sniffed the air, before he gave a doggy grin. I rose a brow, before I gave a grin of my own.

There, in all of her genius glory, was Freyja.

“Loose already?” the ANBU asked, and she snorted.

“I never left. He’ll be chasing shadow clones until the sun goes down.” she plucks a leaf out of her hair, giving me a wolfish grin.

I heard the fox-masked ANBU gave a small sigh, and I sent him another glare. Freyja turns to him, giving a small smile.

“ANBU-san, what would you like me to call you?”

“Oh, you can call me Fox.” he says, and she nods.

“Okay, Fox-san, would you like something to eat? Those ration bars can’t be all that tasty.” she teases, and the young shinobi chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck shyly.

“Ah, if you wouldn’t mind, Freyja-chan.” she cuts him a glare, kind demeanor slipping away.

“Don’t call me ‘chan,’ you’re barely any older than I am.” she snaps, and I snicker as the crushing ANBU recoils slightly.

“Ah, sorry Freyja.”

“It’s fine, c’mon, I’ll fix you up some udon noodles. You can eat in the guest room, Fox-san.” she hums, and the ANBU nods, jumping down from the branch and following her like a lost puppy.

“You know,” I mutter into his ear before we enter the house, “wolves  _ kill  _ foxes when they mess with their pack.”

“I’m not sure that’s factually correct.” he replies, and I give him a kind smile.

“In this case it is.” 

I turn around, before forcefully turning the young ANBU around.

“You can’t just change in the middle of the room, Freyja!”

“It’s my house, I’ll do what the fuck I want!”

Fox tilted his head slightly at Freyja as she slid the bowl of udon noodles and chopsticks, a sign of his thankfulness since we couldn’t see his obvious smile he was sporting.

“Thanks, Freyja.”

“Ah, it’s no problem, Fox-san, take one of these, too,” she slid a Haztanukai-ration bar across the table, “keep it on you, but only use it in extreme cases of chakra depletion or life-or-death situations. You’ll thank me later.”

He hesitantly takes it, along with the noodles, before looking around the room, “Where’s the..?” 

“Oh, sorry.” she chuckles, dismissing the genjutsu on the door, he nods, entering the hall. She recasts the illusion, before she gives a soft smile.

“He smells really nice.”

“Don’t be creepy, Frey.” I scold, and she pouts at me, “What does he smell like?”

“Don’t be creepy, Kashi.” she mocks, and I huff at her.

“He smells like sugar and apples, with some hints of dirt, dog and fresh cut grass. He smells like  _ pack  _ material.” she says, and I chuckle.

“You can’t just horde shinobi for your pack, Frey.”

“He seems to want to be hoarded, to me. More than willing, actually.” she shoots back, and I chuckle.

“Go over it with Tsunade, then talk about fraternizing with ANBU.”

“I’ve always thought they were a pretty hot concept, but I’ve always been a sucker for sweethearts who could kill me.” she hums, thoughtfully, and I snort, rolling my eyes. “Maybe that’s my type.

“Only you, Freyja,” I chuckle, “Only you.”

  
  


A couple of hours pass; Freyja is on the couch, back against the armrest, and feet tucked under Fox’s thigh as she read. Fox was sharpening his kunai, and I was reading Icha Icha. My ninken were lounging around the house in various places: Pakkun was sleeping on Freyja’s stomach, Bull was beside the couch, and the others had taken up residence on the dog beds. Two cups of hot tea sat on the coffee table, though growing cold, and it felt quite domestic.

Freyja sniffs, before she stiffens, the tremor in her shoulders returning.

“He’s mad, really fucking mad.” she mutters, and Fox sighs.

“Looks like Bear figured out your game.”

“Oh no, he was conviced until the very end he’d caught me, it’s just now that he’s lost, he’s pretty fucking pissed.” she nervously chuckles, before she clicks her top and bottom incisors together, a nervous habit she seemed to pick up in the two years she was gone.

Sure enough, not two seconds later, Freyja’s door is slung open. I can practially feel the fury radiating off of the ANBU, and Freyja cocks her head as she glances up from her book, looking at the male.

“Did you enjoy our game of tag?” she asks, cheekily, and I see his hand twitch towards his tanto.

Bull growls out in warning, and the rumbling snarls from the other ninken start to resonate through the house.

“Would you like something to eat?” she asks, and Bear just sighs, before nodding.

The ANBU end up staying overnight at the house, much to Fox’s delight and Bear’s chargin.

When mornig comes, she sends them off with food in their stomachs and a note in Fox’s hand.

“Hey, Frey, I’m gonna head into the village, I’ll be back later, okay?” I said to the girl, and she nods, cuddling with Pakkun on the couch.

“Alright Kashi, be careful.” she mutters, and I hum.

“I will.”

  
  


I knock on the door, waiting patiently for it to open, and when it does, I give a closed-eye smile

The woman on the other side sighs, before giving me a smile of her own.

“Kakashi, hey.”

“Hello, Tsume.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> protective brother figure kakashi for the win.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> kakashi: yeah she claimed kiba as pack  
tsume: oh haha  
tsume: wait excuse me what the fuck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all the Pack and instinct stuff is completely inspired by @CherFleur !! their works are amazing, and their Kakashi is to die for!!

The woman steps aside, allowing me into her home.

I graciously take the invitation, and as we sit down, she cuts straight to the point.

“What brings you here, Kakashi?”

“Well, I was wondering if you knew anything about  _ Pack  _ and  _ pack?”  _ I said, and she gave me a flat look.

“I’m the leader of the Inuzuka clan, Kakashi, of course I know about  _ Pack.  _ What brings it up, anyways?” I rub the back of my neck.

“Maa, well, I was talking with Freyja Haztanukai,” she nods understandingly, “and she explained it to me, but said Inuzuka’s might have a better understanding of it.” not her exact words, but good enough.

“Okay. Becoming  _ pack  _ in itself is a great honor, but becoming  _ Pack,  _ that’s a whole other ball game. Being  _ pack  _ is like family: aunts, cousins, grandparents, the works. Being  _ Pack  _ would be like brothers and sisters, parents, immediate family. I’m assuming Freyja is Alpha Bitch, like I am for my  _ pack,  _ but there are usually two others who are similar in status to them, like a beta and delta, although she might not call them that.” she pauses, before shrugging. “There’s also usually one trusted member, one the ‘top dog’ would trust to take care of  _ them  _ when injured or sick, so they don’t have to worry about the health and safety of the  _ pack. _

_ “ _ Becoming that person is so rare, that most  _ packs  _ don’t have them. If Freyja does have one, which is unlikely, then it’s likely she won’t mind being bossed around or taking orders, while she would take offense to being bossed around by anyone else. Haztanukai are usually more brutal in their packs, as most of their eh, spirits are wolves, while ours are dogs. Wolves have much stricter pack dynamics than dogs do.”

I hum, “So, being that person would be like being  _ the  _ Alpha of the  _ pack,  _ right?” Tsume nodded, and I smiled gently, pride bubbling in my chest hotly, “That’s what she meant.”

“What?” Tsume asked, brows raised comically.

“She told me I was  _ the  _ Alpha of the  _ pack,  _ and then seemed to be oddly cuddly.” I recounted, and the woman sighed, before chuckling.

“Makes sense. You’re  _ Pack  _ material through and through.”

“Another thing I wanted to ask you about, what is  _ pack  _ material? She’s used it to describe a few people, but what does it entail?”

“It usually has things to do with skill, knowledge, the ability to protect and provide for the  _ pack,  _ maternal instincts, although looks do factor into it a small amount.” the Inuzuka smiled at me, “Although, sometimes people will rope people they want to protect into the  _ pack  _ until they can properly protect themselves.”

I hum, “That makes sense. She said she wouldn’t make the three others in team Shadow Pack into  _ pack  _ because they ‘don’t contribute to the  _ pack, _ they just took.’” 

Tsume nods in understanding, petting Kuromaru as he brushed against her leg, before curling up at her feet. “That usually means they don’t actually provide for the pack, they just take the benefits of it and, as she said, don’t contribute back to it.” she pauses, before looking at me curiously, “Wait, if they aren’t her  _ pack,  _ who is?”

“Oh, well, she said that Sasuke and Sakura were  _ pack,  _ but Naruto, Shikamaru, Ino and Kiba were  _ Pack,  _ and me of course.”

She stays quiet for a moment, before growling lowly, “She considers Kiba  _ Pack?”  _ I nod, a bit unsurely.

“I see. Thank you Kakashi, is that all you needed?” she asks, fingers flexing tensely, I hum.

“It is, I’ll take my leave now. Thank you Tsume.”

“Anytime, Kakashi, anytime.”

I stepped outside, taking a deep breath. Now, Freyja mentioned getting some more apples and tomatoes from the market..

  
  


_ Tsume _

Once Kakashi leaves, a snarl ripped out of my chest. That  _ child  _ thought she had the right to claim Kiba as- as  _ Pack _ ?! It wouldn’t have been such a problem (or a hit towards my pride and abilities) if she had just been claiming him as  _ pack,  _ but it was  _ Pack _ , did she think I was an insufficient Alpha Bitch? Unable to care for my  _ pack _ ? 

“Kuromaru, we have an Alpha to take care of.”

I stormed out of the house, and halfway through the compound, before I was stopped

“Ah, Tsume-san, hello!” a males voice chirped, and I turned, smiling at the young male.

“Hello, Kouji and Taiki.” 

Kouji was a sweet kid, having just turned 19. He was tall and lanky, but well-muscled. He smelled like sugar and apples, and was as cute as he smelled, in a weird way; mussy, mousy brown hair with bright green eyes, complemented by tan skin and the clan markings on his cheeks. I sniff, furrowing my brow slightly, he smells like pine, too for some reason today.

Taiki, his companion, is a sleek, stockier canine with dark grey fur, with a lighter underbelly and paws that also stretched up in a thin line to the crown of his head. He had a few scars littering his body, but the most distinct ones were the three large claw marks that stretched diagonally from the side of his face to the beginnings of his muzzle and over his right eye. His eyesight waned on that side, but it wasn’t all that off from how his eyes looked anyways: the blue of his eyes looked almost white, and were strangely pupiless, but stunning nonetheless.

“Mind if I ask where you’re headed?” he smiled, and I growled.

“To take care of an Alpha-Bitch-wannabe infringing on my territory.”

He frowned, “Oh, well be careful Tsume-san!” 

I snorted, “Kid, this omega isn’t going to land a hit on me.”   
  


I’d exerted a little more chakra than necessary to get here quicker, but I’d finally arrived at the clearing. I banged on the door, and blinked slightly in surprise.

I’d heard Haztanukai women are tall once they’d reached their full height, but Freyja absolutely towered over me by almost a foot. I distinctly remember being able to stare at the bridge of her nose the last time I saw her.

I snarled nonetheless, and she narrowed her eyes, making the scar that marred her face wrinkle slightly. She stepped outside, glancing at Kuromaru indifferently, before she closed the door behind her, and I snuffed slightly at the smell of wolf that drafted over to me before she did.

“Hello, Tsume. To what do I owe the pleasure?” she asked politely, and I snarled again.

“Don’t play that shit with me, Haztanukai, you’re trying to claim Kiba as  _ Pack _ . Do you think I’m an insufficient Alpha Bitch, brat?”

The taller female is unaffected though, and she simply raises a brow at me, “You said it, not me.”

Kuromaru snaps at her, and I see her fingers twitch.

“I have no qualms about what kind of Alpha Bitch you are, personally. Whether I claim Kiba as  _ Pack  _ or not is none of your business.” she growls, and I bare my teeth at her.

“I’m not gonna just let you claim him,  _ pup,”  _ I grit, and I see her stiffen, before her our growling fills the clearing around us.

“Good thing it’s not your choice, Tsume.” she says, reigning in her own anger, and I feel mine flare.

“You’re not even willing to fight for the right to claim him, you’re an unfit Alpha Bitch, you’re an Omega trying to play Alpha.”

The snarl that rumbles from her chest shakes my ribs, but I’m undeterred; she’s unfit to care for my son.

“I see no reason to fight you. If I can go head to head with the Copy-nin and come out relatively unscathed, I see no need to fight someone who’s below him, and I don’t have my summons here to aid me, it’s an unfair fight.” she points out, and I smirk.

“Sounds to me like you’re just too weak to take on an Inuzuka and her canine.”

“Sounds to me like you’re unwilling to fight without him because you know you have no other chance of winning.” she shoots back, and I hear the said wolfish canine rumble in displeasure.

“Fine, I won’t fight with him. C’mon, Omega, bare your milk teeth.” I spit, and she snuffs.

She brushed past me, away from her den and into a clearer space. I follow after her, frowning in confusion as she presses her fingers to her wrist, and all of a sudden a black katana rests in her palm.

“How’d you do that, brat?” I snap, and she turns, raising a brow.

“Why would I tell you, Tsume?” she says, simply, and I snarl, lunging at her.

  
  


_ Kakashi _

The sound of metal on metal and snarling coming from the clearing let me know that something is not right, and it makes my heart clench with fear.

I snarl at the sight I’m greeted with: Tsume is fighting Freyja with a fury behind her hits, and Freyja not fighting with half the vigor she usually does.

Tsume was banged up a little bit, but Freyja had three deep claw marks slashed down her face from her cheekbone to her jaw. She was blocking any kunai from hitting her with her katana or just dodging out of the way. 

Kuromaru is prowling on the sides, seemingly waiting for his chance to strike. I growl, making a move to jump down and stop it, groceries be damned, but a hand on my arm stops me before I can.

I turn, seeing Fox staring at me, and a stocky canine by his side.

“She’s fighting for the right to claim Kiba as  _ Pack _ , and for her honor. If you interfere, it’ll make her seem like an unfit Alpha Bitch and will further Tsume’s claim that she can’t properly care for her  _ pack _ .” he says, and I rumble in displeasure.

“But I’m  _ the  _ Alpha, so shouldn’t I be the one she’s fighting?”

Fox shakes his head, “You’re not the one she has a problem with. Freyja is. You just have to let them duke it out.”

“Why isn’t Freyja going all out?” I ask, in slight confusion, “If she’s fighting for the right, why isn’t she fighting like she usually does?”

“Because Tsume is Kiba’s mom, if she seriously injures her, there’s a chance Kiba will be furious with  _ Freyja,  _ not Tsume.” he says, and I nod. That makes sense.

I turn back to the fight just in time to see Freyja slash Tsume on the chest. Not fatally, just enough to bleed and hurt like hell.

In that same moment, Kuromaru jumps on Freyja’s back, pinning her. She slings her katana at the last second to avoid stabbing herself. Once she’s securely pinned, Tsume crouches and snatches Freyja’s head back by her hair, exposing her neck.

Freyja bares her teeth, snarling so loudly it reverberates around  _ my  _ chest, and Tsume growls, part approving of the fangs, and the other part a warning.

“I thought you said you’d fight without him? That’s playing dirty, going back on your word.” Freyja snarks, and Tsume growls.

“Nothing is fair in life, pup, get used to it.”

“Guess I’ll just have to play dirty too.” she snarks, and I startle slightly as the three canines jump out from the trees.

Dorje bares his fangs at Kuromaru as he circled them, the other two following suit. 

I hum as I see Shun, Yuuto and Chiaki crouch beside us on the branch.

“When’d you get back?” I ask, and they shrug. 

“Hour or so ago, we shunshined most of the way here.” Yuuto mumbles, and I nodded, turning back to the fight.

“Let go of our Alpha,  _ Omega _ .” Dorje snaps, and I see Fox recoil a little. Must be a high insult.

Tsume is quickly realizing she’s outnumbered, and brings a kunai to Freyja’s throat. The canines pause in their circling, and I smirk slightly.

They’ve left Guadalupe behind her.

“You can't risk it with you ‘Alpha’ in danger, can you?” the woman snarks, and Suotomo snaps at Kuromaru’s tail. The dog turns to snap back at him, and at that moment Guadalupe pounces, tackling Tsume as she slowly begins to fuse into her. Dorje takes this moment to tackle Kuromaru off of him, and then it’s a mess of teeth and claws as the Inuzuka canine desperately fights against the larger, stronger one.

Fox shifts slightly, nearly vibrating in his spot, and I snort. That must be a thing for him, seeing Alpha females go at it. Weird Inuzuka’s.

Freyja gets up, brushing her clothes off before she picks up her katana. With Suotomo beside her, she walks slowly towards the older woman, steel spikes rising behind her as she does so. 

She crouches beside Tsume, doing the same thing she did to her when she was pinned on her stomach.

“I win,  _ Omega _ ,” I hear a yelp as Dorje pins Kuromaru, teeth buried in the fur of his nape. “Submit, and leave my territory while I allow you and your mutt to do so.”

Tsume snaps at Freyja’s wrist, and she simply yanked her hair back, forcefully craning her head back further.

“What does she mean by ‘submit?’” Shun asks, and Fox hums.

“Like wolves do when they’re faced with someone who ranks higher than them. They submit out of respect and fear for the higher ranking wolf.” he explains. “In short, she’s telling Tsume to regard her as the higher ranking Alpha Bitch, telling her to grovel for forgiveness.”

“Why would she need to do that?”

“Wolves usually kill other Alpha’s who come into their territory, challenge them and loose. Tsume came into Freyja’s territory, acting high and mighty, and goaded her into a fight. She lost to Freyja, and since she can’t kill the loser, she’s making her beg for forgiveness for the blatant disrespect she showed.”

I nod in understanding, glancing at Kuromaru, who’s already begrudgingly rolled onto his back. Dorje is sniffing him as he circles the other male, nipping his neck when he moves. The black wolf finally steps away, allowing the smaller black and white canine to growl, displeased as he gets up, slinking to the edge of the woods.

“ _ Submit _ , Tsume. I won’t ask again.” Freyja snaps, and Tsume glares harder at her, before she goes limp, craning her head to the side willingly, and bares her neck.

Freyja rumbles, pleased as the metal melts back into the ground. Guadalupe steps off of her, and Tsume waits a moment before she stands again.

The taller female clamps her hand down on her shoulder, holding her in place as she begins to heal the wound on her chest, and the other nicks.

“Why are you healing me?” she asks stiffly, and Freyja hums, all aggression melting away.

“You are the Alpha Bitch of your own  _ pack _ , and I respect that.” she says, and Tsume makes a judgemental noise. Without hesitation, Freyja snatches her head back yet again. The shorter woman fists her pants roughly to avoid striking out.

“Do not take this as me being a weak Alpha, Tsume. I am just a generous one.” she snarls, before gently untangling her fingers from her hair. “Leave.” 

Tsume, battered and pride crushed, turns away, preparing to leave.

“You are an Alpha fit for my son.”

And then she and Kuromaru are gone, and Freyja is preening happily.

She looks at her summons before sitting down, lotus style, and suddenly it’s a puppy pile. The large canines clamber on her, sniffing and licking and nudging and Freyja looks at peace. Dorje licks the wounds on her face, and gumbles angrily as they heal, but leave a scar.

“I would love to stay,” Fox sounds breathless, “but I’ve got to talk to Tsunade about my identity.”

I chuckle as the Inuzuka darts away, his canine companion not far behind him. I jump down, smiling at Dorje bounds over to me, sniffing and licking and nudging at me.

“You’re an overgrown puppy,” I tell him teasingly, and he just licks my face. I squawk, affronted, and the wolf just chuckles, before bounding back to Freyja. The other two also take turns sniffing and nudging and licking me, and I find that I love it.

Freyja already looks tired, and she smiles at me, “Go put up the groceries, please Kashi.” I nod, walking in the house, but before I do, I caught the tail end of Chiaki’s sentence.

“-want to move into the village.”

After I close the door, I allow myself to shake with soft rage. This is why they aren’t  _ pack _ , and I wonder if Freyja knew this would happen when she allowed herself to come back to Kohana; I wonder if she knew they would abandon her for an easier, in-the-village life.

The thought makes my chest physically ache, so to distract myself, I begin to put the groceries away. I hear the door open, and three pairs of footsteps behind me. They go down the hall, and I realize that they’re already packing to leave.

It makes me instincts roar with fury, so I go back outside.

Freyja is nowhere to be seen.   
  


I stay at the house, reading Icha Icha, because I know she’ll come back. Freyja is a creature of habit, and I know she knows I’ll be here. I’ve made myself comfortable, removed my sandals and flak jacket and have made myself at home on her couch because she’ll need someone.

I’m on the last chapter of the book when she stumbles in through the door, and it’s quiet as sad, tired eyes meet my gaze. I set my book down on the coffee table, and unsurely open my arms.

She rushes over, collapsing into my arms as she sobs. The sobs shake her being and I’m positive she’s going to break a rib with how hard her chest heaves. Her fingers are buried into my shirt, gripping it so hard I think she might tear it.

I wrap my arms around her, and heave her up to comfortably curl into my chest and rest on my lap, and she seems so small; despite the fact that she is taller than I am by several inches, and shoulders broader, she feels small in my hold as she seems to collapse into herself.

She rested her forehead on my collar bone as she gives a sob, before she speaks.

“ _ Why _ , why am I never good enough for them to stay, Kashi? Never good enough for-” a sob interrupts her, “-for them to want  _ me  _ to stay?” she strangles out, and I tighten my hold on her.

What do I say, when everyone who’s known her has turned their backs on her at some point? People she’s spent the last two years surviving with have left her to be by her lonesome, with no doubts or hesitation. 

Her sobs eventually die down to soft sniffles and hiccups. I set my chin on her head and give a small rumble from my chest.

I can feel the smile against my collarbone as she gives her own weak, purr-like one back.

“Can I scent you?” she asks the next morning, and I raise a brow at her, a reminder that I have  _ no fucking idea  _ what all this ‘ _ Pack _ ’ stuff is about, and she sighs softly.

“Scenting is basically like the last hurdle, it’s just a glorified right of passage into  _ pack _ . It.. my,” her voice cracks a little, “my mother, she used to scent me and my siblings-” I raise my eyebrows at this, because I didn’t know she had siblings, “-everytime before she left for a mission. It was basically like an unspoken promise that she’d come back, and it was a reassurance to her instincts; a reassurance that we trusted and loved her enough to let her do this sacred thing.”

I nod, “Go for it.” even though I have no idea what ‘scenting’ entails.

She steps forward, unsure, “This, this might be a little awkward,” she mutters, and then she hugs me, burying her face into the side of my neck. I stiffen, relaxing slightly despite myself as she inhales deeply. My own instincts are telling me to do the same to her, but if this ritual is as sacred as she says, then it might be nice to ask first.

She slumps against me slightly, before pulling away, and to my own mortification, I move with her before I realize it. She gives a snicker as she, successfully, pulls away, grinning down at me like the stars were made by my hand.

“Can I scent you, too?” I ask, and she just wraps be back up into another hug.

I inhale, and Freyja smells like happiness-woods-pine-dirt-grass-sunshine-dogs-cinnamon and it makes me give a small snort. When we pull away Freyja looks a lot more at peace, a tenseness to her shoulders gone that I hadn’t even noticed was there.

I frown when I get the letter from Tsunade that I and the  _ pack  _ have a mission- before smiling because Freyja’s going with, too.

I tell her, and she just smiles before nodding.

“Grab a few ration bars, please Kashi.” she says, before walking back to her room to change.

I glance back at the note, Neji is going with us too.

This should be interesting.

It is, but in a bad way, because Kiba punches Freyja in the face the moment he sees her, breaking her nose. 

Silence falls over the clearing, and Freyja stares indifferently at the Inuzuka and his fuming face as she sets her nose, but there’s hurt shimmering in her eyes.

“What the fuck was that, Kiba?” Sasuke snaps, and Kiba snarls.

“She beat the shit out of my mom for no reason.”

I raise a brow, and Freyja just sighs, running a hand through her bangs.

“I don’t get paid nearly enough.” she grumbles, before she turns her gaze to the rest of the anxious chunin.

“Let’s get going, kids, I’m already over this.” she mumbles, and when she has her back turned, Naruto drives an unforgiving fist into Kiba’s gut.

I don’t bother to scold him for it.   
  


The mission is.. Long. Tiring and unrelenting in the battles it throws them into.

Freyja is determined to give me a heart attack, I’m sure, when I watch the last nin drive a blade straight through her stomach, before she sheaths her own in his neck. She just huffs, tearing the blade out of him and rolls her eyes, like this is such a minor inconvenience, as she heals herself.

Sakura doesn’t bother to bitch at her for it, because Freyja is a bit of a livewire right now, has been since we left two days ago. She sighs as she rests against a tree, sitting down, face scrunched up in pain, and that’s when I start really worrying.

Sakura rushes over, quickly healing the rest of the wound properly, and her other wounds. The black haired girl says nothing, merely staring at the sky above her.

Sasuke glares at Kiba, and the boy merely snarls at him. I growl, snatching Kiba up by the back of his flak jacket as I dragged him away from the group. Akamaru snarled and followed quickly behind us, but I paid him no mind.

I slung him into a tree, and he glared at me, “What gives, Kakashi?” he snapped, and I growled.

“Freyja didn’t instigate the fight between her and Tsume. Your mother went to her house, and said she was an unworthy Alpha Bitch because she claimed you as  _ Pack.  _ Freyja healed her wounds once they were done, and sent her away with only her pride in pain.” I growl, “That's what ‘gives’ Kiba. You need to go and apologize because you have your head up your ass and are putting everyone on edge.” I jab a finger into his chest.

Kiba is quiet, brows furrowed. “She.. she claimed me as  _ Pack _ ?” he murmurs, and I nod.

“Yes, Kiba, she claimed you as  _ Pack  _ and Tsume took it as an insult to her pride and fought her for the right to. Freyja won, and Tsume left without a scratch, where as Freyja got a new face-scar.” I stated dully, and Kiba whined.

“I’m an idiot. She’s gonna kick me from the  _ pack _ I didn’t even know I was in!” he wailed, and I sighed.

“Go apologize, Kiba.”

The body nodded, darting away to the kunoichi and slinging himself into her chest, nuzzling her bust like the horndog he was.

“I’m sorry, Freyja! Please don’t kick me from the  _ pack _ !” he cried dramatically, and the woman simply sighed, patting the back of his head.

“You’re forgiven, Kiba.”

“What’s  _ pack _ ?” Sasuke asked, and Freyja replied, as if it was as easy as breathing.

“You are. All of you are  _ pack _ , even Neji.” the Hyuga glared at her, but it seemed.. Softer.

After an actual explanation, the chunin seemed touched. Kiba had stared at her, and then dove his face into her neck, scenting her.

Naruto gave a shout, “Kiba! You horndog! Get off of my nee-chan!”

Sasuke rolled his eyes, “He’s scenting her, dobe. It’s the final passage into  _ pack _ .” then the ravenette paused. “Shit. I’m  _ pack _ , too.”

Naruto chuckled at his expense, frowning as Freyja scented Kiba back before moving towards him. But, at the last second, she dove towards Sasuke, ensuring he couldn’t escape. The last Uchiha thrashed for a moment, mostly for theatrics, before ‘resigning’ to his fate. He inhaled deeply into her neck in return, and she smiled, and he did, too, before continuing down the line.

Shikamaru flushed redder than the tomatoes Sasuke left when she sniffed the junction on his shoulder and neck, and even brighter when he, in turn scented her also.

She came to a stop at Neji, and he glared at her. She simply smiled and nodded, before walking away from the Hyuga, who looked a little confused.

“I’m not going to scent you if you don’t want it, Neji. For Haztanukai’s, the scenting without content is like a form of assault.” she said seriously, “But, whether you like it or not, you Hyuga brat, you’re  _ pack _ .” the said ‘Hyuga brat’ just huffed, but his cheeks were a bit pink and there was a smile pulling at his lips.

I smiled gently at my  _ pack _ . I was beginning to love the group a bit more, day by day.   
  


Of course, nothing is ever simple. We completed our mission (taking out a group of high-level missing nin) but that wasn’t what sent everything off into the deep end.

We had just sat down, just lowered our guard enough for us not to notice the nin in the trees or the seabon aimed at us until they’d hit us, and we were all lying paralysed on the ground.

Freyja was on her feet though, eyes wide and wild. In seconds, Dorje, Suotomo and Guadalupe were summoned, towering over Freyja as the group of nin jumped down.

“Freyja, it’s been such a long time,” a silky voice spoke, “why, you were just a genin the last time we saw you. Tell me, do you still scream and cry and prettily as you used to?” the dark haired woman spoke, her face covered with black bandages.

“Go to hell, bitch.” Freyja snapped, and the woman gasped in mock offense.

“Now Freyja, that’s no way to talk to someone who’s seen you at your worst.” the woman tilted her head, voice still sickeningly sweet as the men behind her shifted slightly.

“It’s the way to talk to a bitch who deserves to go to hell.” she snarked back, and the woman snarled, ‘nice’ demeanor suddenly gone.

“It’s no way to talk to someone who’s seen your precious Ryuu-sensei’s guts, though.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do you prefer the spacing of this chapter? lmk!!


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some angst, and protective pack feels.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING!! implied/referenced sexual abuse/r*pe
> 
> it doesn't focus on it, and also one bad line of smut.
> 
> also, extra long chapter!!

I suck in a breath.  _ Oh.  _ That’s who they were.

“Murderous bastards, the lot of you.” she snarled, before she took a stance, “Barrier Formation: Level Six!” she snapped, and the canines moved faster than the missing nin could. They stood around her, curling their bodies slightly to form a circle. A wall of boiling water surrounded them, then a wall of an electrical current, and then what looked like a wind barrier, but from the small amount of sound coming from it, I figured it had to be something of Suotomo’s.

“This is adorable, Freyja-chan.” she purred, “What are you gonna do, hide in there until your team dies again?”

“I might die, but I’ll be damned if you touch them.” she snarled, before she closed her eyes and began to perform a series of hand signs.

“You’ll die if you summon him, you know your body can’t handle it, Freyja-chan, and then what’s your precious puppies to do? Suffer like you did?” the bandaged woman yells, but Freyja doesn’t respond.

She completes the last hand sigh before she sinks her teeth into her thumb, “Spirit Summon: Kin.” she slammed her palm down on the ground before Shikamaru could get his strangled cry out, and the ground shook under us.

The white and golden wolf was stunning in the afternoon’s light, and he towered over the other spirits. The wolf stared indifferently at us, before her stepped in between us and created a box of see-through steel; I had no idea how that worked, but I’d learned the first time now to question his motives.

The wolf rumbles, voice of molten steel as he glared at us, “Caught like mice in a trap. A pathetic makeup for a  _ pack _ , truly.” his tone is disapproving, but he moves to gently pluck the seabon out of Shikamaru, one my one, before moving to Neji.

I glance at Freyja, she’s wobbly on her feet, but eyes are furious.

“Barrier formation: Disassemble.” she pants, and the spirits do as told.

“That’s cute, Freyja, but we’ve grown our numbers. One of our members specializes in going underground,” I pause, cursing as a nin bursts out of the ground beside me, and Kin snarls, snapping at him and only missing by a fraction as he dives back underground.

“So here’s the deal,” she starts, “you unsummon your three primaries, and fight all of us. You’re allowed your katana, but nothing else.” she says, eyes deceptively kind, “Kin can stay, but the second you break a rule, we start picking them off.

“I think the blondie would do nicely as Ayumu’s replacement, no? She’s got pretty eyes. I think the Nara’s mind might be fun to play with, they’re the perfect little test for psychological tourtue. Oh, how could I forget the pretty pink one? Maybe we’ll do to her what the Blade Tongues did to you-”

“You won’t fucking touch them, you skank.” she snarls, “I won’t let you touch any of them, especially Sakura, god so help me-”

“Oh you haven’t told them? I know you must feel so  _ dirty  _ Freyja, how pitiful-”

“Shut up-”

“Your new sensei could do with some new stitches, too, no?”

The Haztanukai whimpered, and then she was alone out there, Dorje and the others gone.

“I’ll play by your rules, but don’t touch them.” she says, and the woman smiles.

“Good girl, you’re such a good doll, Freyja.” she cooed, and the girl flinched.

“If I die.. You can’t hurt them.”

“Of course not, that would be no fun. Killing you in front of them, yes. The Copy-nin’s got a misguided guilt factor a mile wide and that in itself gets me all riled up.” she giggled, and Freyja scrunched up her face.

“Gross, man. Keep that away from me, that’s practically my brother you’re talking about, jeez.” she huffed, before she touched her wrist, summoning her black katana. I felt by chest squeeze uncomfortably, I was a brother to her? Nice timing, Frey.

The woman darts at her, and it’s all a blur of movement I can’t follow. I see her stab her katana through one of them, snatching it with such force it rips out the side of him and land into another male’s side. I grimace as she gets splattered with blood, more so as she kicks another male’s chest so hard it caved in on itself.

She fought with barely restrained fury, and pushed it into making her hits deadlier. I felt my heart stop as she was caught from behind. She thrashed, katana falling out of her grip.

The woman huffed, “Well that was bor-”

Freyja, without another thought, turned and sank her teeth into the man’s neck behind her, and  _ pulled.  _ The man's throat came with her, and he let go, gurgling as he began to choke on his own blood. I cringed as she spat the chuck of flesh on the ground beside her, before snatching up her katana and snarling in such a feral way I had to recount it and make sure it wasn’t Kin who made the noise.

“I always heard that you got a little wild after tasting human blood on their tongue, but I didn’t think it was true!” the older woman was positively giddy over this revelation.

“Shut the fuck up and die already.” she snapped, and the woman just hummed.

“I’m changing the rules, sweetheart. You come with me, or the Hyuga dies.” I heard Neji suck in a breath, and in the same moment Kin disappeared and the walls fell. I turned my head slightly, seeing a man holding a tanto to Neji’s throat.

“Okay.” Freyja mumbled at the same time Naruto yelled “No way!”

Sighing, the taller female made a gesture with her katana, “Can I do something first?”

“Of course, doll.” Freyja made quick work of sealing the blade in a small scroll, and she walked over to me, putting it in my kunai pouch.

“Protect the  _ pack _ , Kashi, and tell Tsume I’m sorry,” she murmurs, eyes hazy with chakra exhaustion, “I’m a bad Alpha, but you aren’t. The paralytics should wear off in about ten minutes from what I can smell.” 

“Freyja, don’t do it.” I commanded, and she whined slightly, tears welling up in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Kashi. I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.” she murmurs, and cranes, albeit awkwardly, to scent me. She moves to Naruto next, whispering sorries and begs for forgiveness. Naruto is crying, and when she gets to Sasuke, he’s properly fuming.

“What the fuck, Freyja? I thought we were  _ pack _ , or does that not mean anything to you?” he snapped, and when she went to scent him, he jerked weakly. She recoiled like he’d struck her.

Instead she places a kiss on his forehead.

“I’m going to die, Sasuke. At least this way I can make sure it’s not in front of you.”

He flinches, just barely, at the words, but says nothing else.

She stops in front of Neji, and smiles gently.

“Why? Why give your life for me?” he snapped, “Our clans hate each other, so why? I’ve done nothing but hate you since we met.”

“Ayumu was a Hyuga,” she admits, smiling slightly. “He was so mad all the time, punched me so hard he broke my jaw the first time he saw me, actually. I loved him nonetheless, I always thought the rivally was stupid, it’s just standards from dead people.” she huffed wetly, tears streaming freely. Neji stared at her for a moment, before he shifted slightly, baring his neck. She snorts, “Stupid Hyuga. Why aren’t any of you good at feelings?” she teases, before scenting him, too.

She stands up, turning to the watching woman.

“Aww, c’mere baby. Poor little Ayumu was just a cutie, wasn’t he? Actually, looks just like that one.” she hummed, and Freyja sighed, anger laced in it.

“You make me wish I wasn’t a Haztanukai.”

“That’s no way to speak to your cousin!” I choked on my spit, and so did Sakura, from the sound of it.

“I should’ve downed you when I had the chance.” she snarled, and the bandaged woman scoffed.

“It would have been pleasant for you to try, spirit-stealer.” I heard the distinct noise of them shunshining away, and I growled to myself.

I shouldn’t have relaxed, fuck this was all my fault. 

The minutes pass slowly, and at some point I can force myself up. I sit there, as everyone else slowly begins to regain movement. Sasuke is the first the stumble to his feet, and he reels his arm back, sending a chakra infused punch into a tree, completely decimating it.

“Fuck!” he shouted, hands trembling, before he collapsed to his knees. “Fuck..” he whispers, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Naruto stands, only to drop to his knees as well beside the Uchiha.

“How many times, Naruto, are we going to leave her? How many times are we going to let her take the hit, sacrifice everything for us?” he muttered, tone bitter. Naruto frowned, slinging an arm over the boy’s shoulders.

“I don’t know if she’d have it any other way, Sasuke.” he answered scencierly, and the said ravenette pinched the bridge of his nose harder.

“But we let her, we let her throw away everything for us, even outside of battle, and we just accept it how it is, and give nothing in return. Naruto, there were so many other ways she could have won, her weird affinity with metal: quick spikes through them. Kin would have killed the nin that had Neji, she could have used a jutsu, but she was so scared or any of us getting hurt, she gave herself up.

“She’ll do it every time, Naruto. She’ll sacrifice herself every single time for us.” his smile was bitter, and a bit crooked.

“And every single time, we’ll let her.”

  
  


Reporting it back to Tsunade was.. difficult. Ino was still a bit sluggish from the paralytics, Shikamaru was angry, Neji was quieter than normal, and I was genuinely concerned Sasuke was going to rip someone’s face off. 

“I want to look for her.”

Neji is the one who spoke, and Tsunade raises a brow.

“Aren’t your clans rivals?”

He waves a dismissive hand, “That’s just a standard from dead people.”

She sighs, rubbing her forehead. “You’ll be retrieving a corpse.”

“Maybe so, but she deserves a proper burial.” he mused, and Sasuke nods.

“She does. We’ll all help look for her.”

“I will, too.” an Inuzuka mumbled from the corner of the room, and I glanced at his canine.

I smirked at him, and the scruffy haired boy smiles back at me.

“Okay, fine. You can start tomorrow.”

  
  


On the fourth day of searching, we find her. She’s covered in blood, and crouched in a clearing, completely still. I swallow uncomfortably, and a muscle in her back twitches at the noise. So she’s not dead, great. If Sasuke gets his hands on her, though, all of her trouble to live will be for naught.

She turns her head slowly, and once she registers it’s us, and turns back to the ground.

“You don’t want to be here, trust me on this one guys.” her voice is rough, and Sasuke scofs, jumping down beside her.

“Freyja-”

She stands, before she turns to face him. She’s wearing her usual utility pants, but only a sports bra as a top. I hear Sakura vomit, and I don’t blame her.

A long, jagged scar trails down from her sternum to her navel, crudely sewn shut and infected. Sasuke flinches back a little, before he sighs.

“You can’t tree-jump, can you?” he murmurs sympathetically, and she just nods.

“My leg.” she mutters, and I don’t want to think about what she could mean by that.

Sasuke just growls, “How am I supposed to beat the sense into you if you’re always injured?”

Freyja gives him a shit eating grin, “Well, I guess you could say it, eh,  _ beats  _ me.”

She passes out right afterwards.

  
  


Tsunade had nearly had a stroke when we brought her in, gently cradled in Sasuke's arms. Kouji nearly got his arm blown off by a chidori when he’d tried to pick her up, so no one else had particularly wanted to attempt it.

“She’s alive.” she said, dumbly, and I heard and ANBU sigh as he gazed at the way Kouji (or Fox) stared at her dreamily, even when she was running a fever and had a nasty scar running down her front.

“Unfortunately.” the boar masked nin grumbled, and Neji sent him a scathing glance. Naruto looked like he was about to kill the man where he stood, so I quickly tried to defuse the situation.

“Maa, Boar, I guess the same could be said for you, no?” the ANBU gives me a glare, before trailing his eyes back to where Tsunade is healing Freyja’s stomach. She then cuts away her pants leg, and I feel my stomach lurch. Her leg is burnt, mildly, all the way up to mid-thigh. Tsunade frowns.

“She seems to have a thing for being injured by fire.” she grumbles, displeased, and I sigh.

“Seems so.”

When Freyja wakes, up, she’s screaming. Thrashing, sobbing as nurse grabbed her arms and held her down. Then, a nurse had put her hand on her ankle.

She ripped away from them, and was well on her way to delivering a killing-blow before Neji grabbed her wrist. She paused, turning watery eyes to him, as she curled into herself. The Hyuga brought her closer, letting her cry silently into her shoulder.

She murmured something, so quiet that I couldn’t hear it, but both of the Inuzuka’s froze, along with Neji.

“Did you kill them?” he asked, and Freyja shook her head.

“Only just managed to escape.” and Neji nodded.

“Good, because I’m going to murder the fuck out of them.” he snarled, and Freyja threw her head back and laughed, despite the tears brimming in her eyes.

  
  


I sat down next to Kouji, who was petting Taiaki a little rougher than usual.

“What did she say?” I asked, even though I really,  _ really  _ didn’t want to know.

“She said they touched her.”

In all my years, I’d never felt rage like what consumed my chest that day.

  
  


The healing process is.. odd.

Freyja doesn’t flinch, she’s too well trained for that, but I see the sudden stiffness in her muscles when one of us gets a little too close. She sits down beside me, one day, and takes initiative to curl into my side like a touch-starved puppy. I let her, and she scents me for what feels like hours afterwards.

I don’t question her about it, and she doesn’t mention it.

We quickly learn her ankles are off-limits, and so is her stomach. Freyja bounces back quickly, though, within the span of two weeks, and is back to her normal self rather quickly.

It makes my stomach twist in knots. She seems too ‘okay’ for the situation.

  
  


It’s on the third week after we’ve found her that Sasuke and I get to watch Kouji stumble through a confession to Freyja.

“Hey, uh, Freyja?” he murmured, after watching the said girl clean her black katana with barely-contained drooling.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes from where he watched the ordeal in the branches of the tree, and I softly chuckled. The ravenette was protective to a fault over the girl, and was thoroughly convinced no one in Kohana was good enough for the girl. Kouji also didn’t meet the Uchiha’s standards, I’d heard him complain about numerous traits of the boys: he was too timid, too mousy, wasn’t all that great at combat, couldn’t protect her well enough, the list went on. He was most adamant that Freyja deserves someone who wasn’t in ANBU, who was always gone. When I’d asked the boy if  _ he  _ was the only one good enough for her, he’d just sighed.

_ (“Are you sure you’re not the only one who meets your standards, Sasuke?” I teased, and the ravenette stayed quiet for a moment, before sighing. _

_ “She’d be a great person to revive my clan with, but in the end, I guess the only two people really meet my standards would have no interest in her.” _

_ “Oh? Who?” _

_ “You and Naruto.” _

_ I nearly face planted at his admission.) _

“Yes, Kouji?” Freyja spoke, bringing me back to the present.

“I uh, well,” he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t really know how to say this, but, ehm-”

“Spit it out, Kouji.” she grunted, hissing slightly as she accidentally cut her palm on the blade.

“I uh-”

“Kouji.”

“I like you!” he blurted, and Freyja rose a brow, cocking her head to the side lightly. I thought the shorter boy was going to go into cardiac arrest for a second.

“Eh?”

“I- I like you, Freyja, and I have since I first met you.” he flushed nervously, and Freyja seemed genuinely confused.

“You like.. me.” she said, and when he nodded, and snorted, “Bad decision on your part, Ji-Ji.” she muttered, and the boy looked personally offended.

“How so? Y-you’re perfect, a-and stunningly be-beautiful!” he stuttered, although it was obvious he was serious in his belief of his spoken words.

“I’m too tall.” she countered, and he huffed irritably.

“Your height is extremely attractive.”

“I’m scarred to hell and back.” she pointed out, lifting up her scarred arms for proof.

“All shinobi are, it just says you fought and won.”

“I’m not delicate. Aren’t boys supposed to like girls like Hinata, or Sakura?”

“Inuzuka’s have great taste.”

“Apparently not all of them.” 

Sasuke shifted on the branch, and I rolled my eyes. I’m pretty sure almost everyone in the  _ pack  _ had a crush on the tall female at some point, even the grumpy, prepubescent Uchiha.

“Hey, my taste in women is perfect, seeing as you’re the one I’m-” his words died in his throat as Freyja stood up, stretching out her sore muscles.

“It’s too hot, how do you stand it for so long?” she grumbled, and I watched as the boy beside me nearly toppled off the tree branch in surprise and mortification as she peeled off her form-fitting, sleeveless high-neck shirt.

Kouji’s mind seemed to completely blank, and he only had just regained his senses when Freyja walked over and hauled him up, kissing him hard on the mouth.

She pulled away, grinning devilishly as she quickly nipped his jaw, before brushing past him and into the house, leaving the older boy starstruck. He swayed on his feet, and his faithful companion quickly came to help him balance.

“She’s a mess.” Sasuke grumbled, and I chuckled.

“Tell me about it.”

  
  


The next couple of days is just Kouji following Freyja around like a puppy, and her liberating him. As of right now, she’s sprawled out on the couch, the older male nuzzling into the space between her hip and first (or last, depending on the way you counted them) rib, rumbling contently as she ran her fingers through his hair, reading an untitled book. One of his palms was splayed on the outside of the thigh farthest from him the other being gently placed on her other side, as his arm was curled under her.

“Disgusting.” Sasuke grumbled, as he ate tomatoe slices like they were candy, which was better than him eating it like it was a  _ fucking apple. _

“Mhm. You’re just mad because the Uchiha-angst isn’t drawing in anymore girls for you, Sasuke.” she replied, not taking her eyes off the pages or pausing in her movements.

“I personally think they’re adorable together.” Sakura commented, and Neji hummed from beside her.

“They’d be cuter if Kouji wasn’t practically humping her leg like a dog in heat every second of the day.”

The said boy and his dog gave an offended-noise, and Shikamru snorts at their expense from where he’s playing shogi with the Hyuga. 

“You’re just mad because you don’t get to squeeze these luscious hips.” he shot back, squeezing one for emphasis.

Freyja stilled, and she slowly trailed her eyes down to Kouji. She rose a brow, head tilted slightly.

“My hips are.. lucious?”

“Yes,” he murmured, nuzzling back into the skin of her hip as he murmured something, that made Kiba spit out the water he was drinking and made Freyja flush scarlet.

“What the fuck, Kouji?! You bastard, I’m going to skin you like a rabbit!” the younger Inuzuka yelled, and the leaner boy was up and out the door before Kiba could round the counter fast enough. 

The boy chased him out the door, Akamaru hot on his heels.

“What did he say?” Neji asked, and Freyja just huffed, burying her flushed face back into her book.

“You don’t want to know.”

I decided that I really, really didn’t want to know.

  
  


The day Tsunade finds a ‘loophole’ in the contract, it’s one of the best days everyone’s had in awhile.

I rushed into the room, looking around wildly, “Yes, Lady Tsunade?” I asked, and she grinned at me, slapping a piece of paper down on her desk. I narrowed my eyes, “You said it was an emergency.”

“It is. It’s about Freyja,  _ look. _ ” I stepped forward quickly, looking at the sheet of paper, a smile spreading on my face.

_ ‘God bless the Sandamie.’  _ I thought to myself, as I read over the second sheet of the contract that had been hidden somewhere apparently.

It stated that if Freyja could beat a whole squad of ANBU to the Hokage’s office, hide, and not be caught until the next day, she’d be free to be let back in the village. A little silly, sure, but something Freyja could do. Tsunade eyes were soft, as she looked at me.

“I can’t wait to meet her.”

We call everyone to the tower, and Kouji looks to happy I’m concerned his heart is going to give out from all the excitement. Kiba looks just as ecstatic, and Sasuke looks please. Shikamaru is calm, but I can see the soothing relief in his eyes.

“This finally means girls nights!” Sakura cheered, and Ino nodded.

“She’s going to love them, she has no choice.” she stated, as if this was fact.

“Oh hell no, I call dibs on the first night with my mate in my village.” Kouji says, as if they’d personally scorned him with their suggestion.

Sasuke, Kiba, and Neji whip around to look at him.

“She’s not your mate!”

“As if, idiot.”

“You’re a fool if you think that’ll go well.”

Tsunade chuckled at the older Inuzuka’s expense as he deflated with each jab.

“Let Freyja be happy, guys,” Naruto spoke up, huffing, “Jeez, you act like if Freyja didn’t like him she’d let him act like that. She’s happy with him, so stop being jealous temes and get over it.” he glared at the three, “My nee-chan deserves to be happy and Kami so help me, I’ll kill all three of you if you ruin this for her.”

The ravenette huffs, “I just think she can do better.”

“She’s not going to restore your clan with you.” Neji said, dryly, and Sasuke gave a rather indigent snuff.

“Bad choice on her part.”

“No one wants to restore a clan with that attitude.” Kiba pointed out, and the Uchiha rolled his eyes.

“She might have, at one point, then she had to go and almost-die.”

“Well, you’ve lost your chance now.” Shikamaru pointed out, and Neji hummed.

“I personally think it’s a good thing. There are certain clans that shouldn’t mix for the safety of humanity. A Haztanukai with a sharingan?” the boys winced slightly.

“Or a Nara. If they were as smart as Nara’s are.. we might very well die by falling in an elaborate trip-wire trap.” Sasuke pointed out, and the other two nodded in agreement, as if this was a totally normal conversation.

“She’s my girlfriend, what the fuck guys?” Kouji whined, but was ultimately ignored. Shikamaru patted his shoulder sympathetically, and he just pouted.

When we informed Freyja, she looked pleasantly surprised, a pretty smile graced her features. 

“That’s great, guys. C'mon, dinner’s ready, eat before it gets cold.”

I paused beside her as she stared at the group.

“You don’t want to go back, do you?”

“Not particularly, no.”

I frown, but the look she casts me tells me not to ask.

  
  


“No, I’m  _ telling  _ you, the most dangerous jinchuuriki there could be would be a Haztanukai-Nara mix! It’d level the Five Shinobi Nations,” Kiba yelled, and Neji glared.

“No. It’d be a Haztanukai-Hyuga mix. The byakugan is superior to some ‘genius level’ smarts and stupid spinny-eye,” I heard Freyja snicker at the name for the sharingan, “they’re useless if you don’t bother to use them.”

“Look,” Shikamaru spoke up, “I’m just saying, I think a Haztanukai jinchuuriki itself is scary: they’ve already got war spirits sealed inside of them, but a literal demon made of chakra? I’m glad they never got their hands on a Haztanukai baby.”

“Hey, Uzumaki make great jinchuuriki! Believe it!” Naruto huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I just think a  _ sharingan _ ,” Sasuke gave a pointed glance at Neji, who huffed, “would help immensely.”

“Possibly, but we won’t know, and probably won’t for generations to come. Freyja, Shikamaru said the spirits are sealed inside of you?” he directed his attention to the tall female, whose boyfriend was currently napping with his head on her thigh (much to her protective brother figures’ chagrin).

“Yes, why?” she replied, turning a page in her book.

“Where is your seal?”

“It got burnt off, but thankfully I had a backup-seal.” she hums, and Neji raises a brow.

“Would you mind showing us?” he asked, and she turned her gaze onto them.

“Do you want to see it?” she asked, and I sighed, why did I have a feeling it was in a completely inappropriate spot?

“Yes, why would we ask if we didn’t want to?” Sasuke asked, and she shrugged.

“Whatever you say.” she slid away from under Kouji, much to the now-awake boy’s displeasure, and promptly pulled her pants down to her knees.

Sasuke choked on his spit, Neji made a sound of mortification; Shikamaru looked like his heart was going to go into overdrive from how much blood was pumping into her face. Kouji playfully wolf whistled, while Naruto peered closer at the back of her right thigh. It was a line of kanji’s painted permanently onto the skin: 光 (light), 水 (water), 音 (sound). 

She pulled her pants back up, grabbing the blanket off the back of the couch and draping it over the two girl’s who’d fallen asleep earlier in the night.

“We better get some sleep, guys. It’s late.”

Dorje appeared, happily curled in his dog bed, and lazily smiled at the Uzumaki and Uchiha who decided to use him as an impromptu pillow. 

The girl curled into the chest on the ANBU Inuzuka, and he hummed happily, wrapping his arms around her, and they fell asleep, right there on the couch, despite there being six perfectly good rooms to sleep in.

I shook my head fondly, summoning a spare futon from a scroll Freyja had given me, and laid it down on the floor. I grabbed a blanket from the floor, where we’d had an earlier cuddle-party, and threw it over me. It was all so natural, even for the slightly-awkward Hyuga, who grumbled something about back-pains before going down the hall to a guest room. Shikamaru sighed, following behind him.

The next morning, we let Freyja sleep in, while we made breakfast. Or attempted to, at least. She’d woken up in a panic when she smelled something burning, and had just sighed at our collective apologies of her now-wrecked kitchen.

“It’s fine, just clean it up. I’m not feeling well, I’m gonna go and lay down.” she murmured, giving Kouji a chaste kiss to the temple before walking down the hallway.

“Neh, I hate it when nee-chan’s sick. She sleeps nearly all day.” Naruto pouted, and Sakura cuffed him upside the head gently.

“Not all of us have a kyuubi in our stomach to keep up from being sick, Naruto. Freyja is allowed to feel unwell. She’s probably just got exhaustion fever.”

After the mess is cleaned, Kouji and Taiaki slip away to go cuddle with Freyja, and Sasuke sighs.

“We’ve been ditched. Abandoned. Left to rot in the deepest confines of Frey’s memories. All for a mediocre boy and his mutt.” he grumbles, dramatically, and I sigh.

Having the whole  _ pack  _ in one house was soothing, on the one hand; on the other, I’m pretty sure they’re going to give me an aneurysm. 

“You’re all idiots. Kakashi-sensei, why are they so stupid?” Sakura whines, and I shrug.

“That’s a mystery even the deities can’t solve.”

Neji just hums, picking up the untitled book for a second, eyes scanning over the pages. After a moment, his face flushes, setting the book back down, before wiping his hands on his clothes.

“I believe.. that book may be worse than the porn novels Kakashi reads.” he mumbled.

“Not her too.” the Nara boy groans, putting his head in his hands.

“What?! You mean Kaka-sensei has turned nee-chan into a pervert too?”

“Mah, I had nothing to do with this.” I defend, picking up the book, opening it to a random page and reading a quick line of it.

_ ‘-the animalistic growl resonated through his throat, as he quickly pounded into his lover’s wet, messy he-’ _

I felt my own face flush a little, and I closed the book before putting it back down.

I clear my throat, “She’s got good taste.”

“I would hardly call that filth ‘good taste’ but each to their own I suppose.”

“Wow, all the books she has are like that. Most center around forbidden shinobi love.” Ino notes, as she thumbs through a few books that are stacked on the shelf.

“This one is actually well written. It’s about a teacher from an old, ancient clan, and an ex-ANBU whose father was a legendary shinobi.”

“Sounds.. startlingly familiar.” Shikamaru hums, turning his gaze to me. The rest follow suit, and I huff.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Fair. Hey, did you know the Umino’s were once a clan?” Sasuke pipes up, and I groan in mortification.

These kids..


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freyja divulges about her childhood and the customs of the Hatanukai clan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> half of this is actual, good writing and information, and the other half is crack treated seriously.  
I like to spice it up.

It was warm when Freyja became an impromptu story-teller. Naruto and Kiba were tired from training, Akamaru and Taiaki were chasing Dorje around playfully; Ino and Sakura were making flower crowns for the taller female who was currently reading another apparently nameless book, while Sasuke and Neji spared not far from their right. Shikamaru was lounging in the grass, basking in the early morning’s rays, and a little to his left was Kouji, who, per usual, was cuddled up to his girlfriend, head resting against her thigh. I was also reading, but on the roof of the house, enjoying the lull in conversation between the  _ pack _ .

“Hey, nee-chan?” Naruto said, turning his gaze to the scarred Haztanukai.

“Yes, otouto?” she replied, not taking her eyes off the book.

“Will you tell us a story about your clan?” everyone perked up at that, and Sasuke and Neji stopped their sparring for a moment. Freyja nodded, setting her book down beside her.

“Sure, gather around, kids. Let me tell you the story of my grandmother, Mahoro. She was a beautiful woman in her prime, and even in old age, although I may be biased, as we were related.

“She was a lighter-skinned woman, for Haztanukai standards, as we’re all quite tan; she had seafoam eyes that drew you in and ensured you, complemented by her black hair. She was tall, as tall as I am, and willowy, unlike most others of our clan. But, what made her most recognisable, was the large scar that ran from one ear to another, straight across her face. 

“She was a sly and cunning woman, who was a genjutsu specialist. She was quick, and all of the spirits she bore were foxes. It’s actually the first time I met Suotomo. One of her spirits was Genei, an illusion spirit; the second was Rin, she was one of ice, and you already know about Suotomo. My grandmother and her beauty were utilized with seduction missions, even if she was a very capable kunoichi.

“Unlike some female shinobi, however, she did not despise the way the used her beauty and grace; she quite enjoyed it, actually. She would have men tripping over themselves to please and court her, gave her expensive jewelry and money, all of which she accepting lovingly before she strangled him. She herself also fell victim to the disease of love, though.

“She met a Nara clansmen while she was here in Kohana, named Jirou. He was a man who did not trip over himself in the haste to court her, yet rather watched from afar with a curious eye. His mysteriousness and ease trapped her and reeled her in, like a moth to a flame. The time came, though, where she had to return to Suna, and she had yet to speak to the man, as she had no permission yet.”

“Why would she need permission?” Sakura asked, before Naruto butted in.

“Does this mean you and Shika are related?”

“Clan customs weren’t fond of outside-clan mates, so you had to Hunt them. The possibility is low that me and Shikamaru are related, Naruto, but good question.

“Anyways, she came back to the clan, and pleaded with her father, the clan head at the time, to let her Hunt the Nara clansmen. Her father, loving her only daughter so, allowed her to. To Hunt an outside member is to either A: bring them in as  _ pack _ , or B: to have them as a mate.

“So, with permission, she traveled back to Kohana in search of the man. When she found him, she spoke to him, and for the first time in a long time, found herself flustered by the easiness and charming personality of the man. He himself found himself captivated by my grandmother’s beauty and wit, and after being informed of our customs, allowed himself to become her mate.

“Jirou moved back to Suna with Mahoro, and she fell pregnant with my mother, Fuyuko, and later on her sister, Emi. She stopped accepting seduction missions after being mated to my grandfather, and instead used her skills for stealth missions. She was a legendary stealth-oriented kunoichi, and was rumored to have never been discovered but once by an Inuzuka and his companion.

“But alas, all good things must die eventually. Genei, enraged with Mahoro’s selection of mate, fought with her. The spirit believed Nara were lazy, and unfit for  _ pack _ members, but my grandmother refused to listen. So, dishonored to be bound to this woman, she refused to help my grandmother anymore, and retreated into the seal, never to be seen by her holder again. Mahoro, who’s stealth and genjutsu were now substantially weaker, retired from being a shinobi, to raise her children and teach them the ways. She would have had to take a long leave, anyway, as my mother’s fifth birthday was coming up.”

“Why would she have had to take a leave?” Sasuke asked, sitting beside Shikamaru now, and the older girl sighed.

“Most Haztanukai women do not spend their child’s first five years with them, to keep them from becoming too dependent on one another. After their fifth year, they spend a mandatory two years with them, teaching them the ways of the clan, and then they are free to stay and retire, or go along as they were.

“My grandmother obviously chose to stay with her children, and when she died in the attack, I could rightfully say my mother was heartbroken, but was not upset, as she’d spent a wonderful life with her mother.

“My mother was always one for customs, though, and for the first five years of my life, I did not see my mother. On my fifth, she spent the whole day with me, and then for the mandatory two years, I saw her for two fleeting hours as she taught me about the customs. 

“After that, well, I honestly can’t remember eating dinner with my mother or father once in my life. They got especially mad and in a tizzy when I told them I wasn’t straight. My brothers got more attention than I did, and neither of them held the ability to retain spirits, which just goes to show I think my parents wanted three boys.

“After my parents died, by brother refused to take me in, but took my little brother in, so I went and lived with Michiko’s family. Then they died and I was on my own. And then I came here. So, in conclusion: clan customs fucking suck.”

“I’m.. sorry to hear about your childhood Freyja.” Neji spoke, and Freyja waved him off.

“Eh. Doesn’t bother me much.” she shrugged, seeming truly indifferent. “I came to terms a long time ago that despite the fact that they were family, I lived with a bunch of strangers my whole life. I think my dad didn’t like me because I was a small child. He wanted strong heirs, strong  _ sons _ , to lead the  _ Pack  _ when he passed on. Stupid fucking half-wit.” she huffed, irritably.

“Did your clan mix with other clans often?” I spoke, feeling sympathetic at her childhood situation. To not ever have family was one thing, to have them and then lose them was another, but having them and being unwanted? That was a whole different kunai-practice. 

“Only sometimes, and only with strong clans. It takes a bunch to capture a Haztanukai’s interest, and even more to keep it.”

“What clans did yours most frequently mix with?” Ino inquired, leaning forward. 

Truthfully, I was glad those two lost interest in each other. That was an emotional disaster waiting to happen.

“Mostly Nara’s, as their intellect enthralled us, it was mostly women who searched outside the clan, truthfully. A long time ago, a women managed to get her and her four sisters in some Uchiha’s vision, and as black hair is a predominant gene, it stuck,” she motioned to her own hair for an example, “I remember when I was younger, my grandmother told me that one of her friends managed to snag an Uzumaki before their homeland fell. Hyuga’s were obviously a huge no-no, but I do remember there being at least one.

“And then there was that fucking Yamanaka my friend’s aunt dragged in. God damn nut case. I had too many missed mind jutsu’s implanted on me.” she huffed, “It was mainly some of Kohana’s more powerful clans, although, we usually stayed away from Inuzuka’s. Spirits are jealous things, they don’t like their dogs.” she smiled at Taiaki and Akamaru, and then at Dorje who stretched out lazily.

“It’s true. I don’t like most people, but you kids are alright, I guess.” he grumbled, before going back to napping.

“So, I guess all of our bloodlines have run through Haztanukai’s at some point, huh? What a drag.” Shikamaru sighed, and Freyja chuckled.

“Tell us about how you met your spirits, Freyja.” Sakura leaned forward, eyes sparkling, and I chuckled, these kids were going to milk her dry of information.

“Well, your spirits choose you, you don’t choose them. They observe, and take their pick of who they like. Feline and canine spirits were always bickering about who got what Haztanukai, and from the ones I met, they were quite kind, fluffy too. The Spirit Elders ultimately decide, but certain Haztanukai’s are spoken for, such as in Suotomo’s case: he demanded he be able to be one of my spirits, as he wanted to keep watch over me as he’d promised my grandmother he would.

“But, meeting my four, I remember it like it just happened. It was my fifth birthday, and they’d taken me to the sacred field, which was about five days travel. At the moment the clock struck 6:45, it was.. ethereally terrifying. You see, the forms which they take now, are not their true forms, but instead are illusions of sorts that they take, as to not terrifying civilians or children. It was wild, and I imagine you’ll see them one day, but until then, I’ll let you stew and wonder what they look like.

“They appeared in front of me, and to be honest, they were huge compared to my five year old self. I was terrified, mostly of Kin, because that fucker was  _ petrifying _ , but I was also excited. I was finally going to be given my Warrior Right, which is a scar that every Spirit Holder gets on their fifth; non-Spirit Holders can get one too if they choose to become a shinobi. Mine runs across my shoulder blades horizontally; it’s easily hidden with my bras and chest wraps. 

“They were kind, if not a bit standoffish, especially that little fucker,” she gave a pointed glance at Dorje, who flicked his ear in response, “and were happy to serve and protect me. The sealing was painful, for a lack of better words. Kin and Dorje’s were on my right arm, and Suotomo and Guadalupe’s were on my left, but then they got burned and well, now they’re on my thigh. Kin’s spare is actually just above my Right.

“Honestly, the Metal Melter was a surprise. We knew I could retain four, but four spirits rarely ever all want one person, and felines and canine spirits just don’t go together. It also might be due to the fact that Kin is an Elite Spirit, kind of like the ANBU of spirits. Elite Spirits rarely ever tie themselves to people, so him offering himself willingly to the overall runt of the litter was a startle. His was the most painful, and knocked me out for two days.

“Despite popular belief, Kin is a kind spirit, when he’s around. Quite funny, too. He heals wounds, or speeds up the process, something about me being a bitch while in recovery, uppity mutt.” she huffed, but her eyes were fond. 

“I’d like to meet him.” Kouji speaks up, and her reply is instant.

“No you wouldn’t.”

“He called us a pathetic makeup for a  _ pack _ the first time we met him.” Sasuke informed, and I hummed.

“He threatened me with serious bodily harm and torture the first time his Elite-ness graced me with his presance.” I drawled, and I heard Shikamaru snicker.

“Wasn’t that after you put nee-chan in the hospital?” Naruto spoke up, seeming to have snapped out of his Haztanukai-induced daze.

“Yes Naruto, it was after I put her in the hospital.” I replied, flatly, and Kouji’s head snapped up to me.

“You did  _ what _ ?!”

  
  


Learning about the Haztanukai culture became all the rage around the house, now, and on more than one occasion I’d catch her chatting it up about their habits and customs. Alas, it came time for Freyja to head out on a mission, and she scented everyone, but only gave a kiss to Sasuke’s head.

Just as she was about to pull away, she caught the Uchiha’s glare.

“What? Are you.. not comfortable with that, either?” she asked, unsurely, and the boy in question looked at her, irritated.

“Why do you scent them but not me? What the hell is that about?” he snapped, and she furrowed her brows.

“The last time I went to scent you, you jerked away, I figured you didn’t want me to scent you anymore.” she pointed out, and that seemed to extinguish Sasuke’s spark.

“Hn.” he huffed, before leaning forward and scenting the older girl. She smiled, scenting him in return, before she turned to me.

I sighed, dramatically, and craned my neck slightly. She smiled, inhaling my scent with a practiced ease.

I did the same for her, and smiled at the smell of Freyja; it always stayed the same, even if the cinnamon still threw me for a loop sometimes. She didn’t even  _ like  _ cinnamon.

“Alright pups,” there were a few shouts in protest to her comment, “I’ll see you guys soon.” she picked up her mission bag, heading out the door. Kouji, of course, followed her out.

I tensed as I heard a ‘holy fucking shit!’ from outsid, and raxed out, pausing at the site, before snickering. The others had joined me, too, and were also finding amusement in their findings.

Kin had taken it upon himself to summon, and was sniffing at the older male judgmentally.

He rumbled, obviously displeased with his findings.

“Couldn’t you have picked a more suitable mate, Freyja?” he inquired, eyeing Kouji with disdain, “This one is so.. small. A weak human,” he nudged her, which sent her stumbling a bit, “what about that Uchiha boy? He’s a suitable mate: strong, intelligent, good looking, true mate material.”

I saw the boy puff up with pride, and the Spirit Holder rolled her eyes.

“I’m quite pleased with my choices, Kin. Thank you though.”

“Hm.” he turned his gaze to me, before walking towards me slowly. He sniffed and nudged at me, before he packed away, pleased with his findings. “A suitable Alpha, very capable. Good  _ pack _ , too, even if they are a bit lackluster in their detection skills. Oh, a Nara?” he cocked his head, inquisitive, before turning back to his holder, “What about him, he seems suitable?”

“Why do none of you like me?” Kouji whined, leaning on the older girl.

“You’re not  _ pack _ , you’ve yet to earn your place, pup,” Kin snapped, snarling at the boy, “you’re an outsider, and your whining is pathetic. Either step up your game, or leave, and let my Holder claim a suitable mate, brat.”

“Leave him alone, Kin.” the girl sounded exasperated, “We have a mission to do. I need money.”

The spirit rumbled, glaring at the offended boy, before he relented, and came to the boy again, scenting him properly.

“My holder deserves the best, and I trust her judgement, even if you are not particularly up to par with my standards.” he sighs, before nudging Freyja, getler this time.

“Okay you drama queen, let’s go.” she smiled at us again, before she was gone.

Kouji sighed, “I think I’m in love.”

“Hey, slow down there brat!”’

  
  


By the third day of Freyja being on her mission we were all bored to death, and grumpy. Some poor, poor genin had tried to ask Sasuke what the best tactic for catching the Hell-Cat-Tora was and had been psychologically scarred from the scolding he’d got. 

“Baa-chan! Why do you give nee-chan such long missions?” Naruto whined, looking at Tsunade like she’d committed a personal crime against his livelihood.

“Because she likes longer missions. She’s a jumpy brat, twitchy. Can’t stay in one place for long.” she stated, signing some documents and putting it on a pile. 

“But that doesn’t mean you need to give her a really long mission! She’s gonna be gone for days!” he whined.

“Who's going to be gone for days?”

I turned around, raising my brow at Kin as he slinked into the office. A leather harness wraps around his chest snugly, with a cute little bag on the front, with Kohana’s symbol stitched onto the front in white.

“What the fuck.” Sasuke said, staring at the wolf, and he tilted his head further.

“I was sent here to deliver something for Freyja, and then to return to her side. You must be Lady Tsunade.” the wolf summarized, locking eyes with the Slug Sannin.

“Yes, I am. You are Kin, the Metal Melter spirit.” she stated, and he nods.

“That I am. The descriptions of you do you no justice, you’re far more beautiful than they say,” the blonde woman blinks, flushing slightly.

“Why, thankyou. What do you have for me, Kin?”

“I bring you sake and a letter.” he stepped closer, and I felt the ANBU in the room shift almost unnoticeably.

The golden wolf’s fur immediately bristled, ears pointed forward as his tail stood straight, basic signs of aggression.

“Odd. I didn’t smell them before now,” he remarks, before going to the walls, sniffing,  _ tracking _ . He hummed, displeased. “There is one who can mold wood. I don’t like it. I would like to leave, please take my things.” he states, rather curtly, and Tsunade chuckles.

“Of course, come here.”

He steps beside her desk, allowing her to open the satchel and take out the contents of it: two high-end bottles of sake, and a note. She carefully opened it, scanning over it, and I briefly noticed Tenzou appear, making the large wolf twitch slightly.

“Freyja will be staying in Suna for a few days.”

“May I leave please, Lady Tsunade?” the wolf asked, glaring at the ANBU, who stepped forward. In seconds, Kin was on the window sill, like a cat not wanting to take a bath.

“Wow.” he muttered, and I gave him an exasperated glance.

“Stop scaring the puppy, Neko.” I drawled, and was quite suddenly met with an angry growl.

“I could devour you and use your shins to pick my teeth.”

“Says the overgrown mutt on the window sill.” I raised a brow, and he huffed, slowly stepping off of it, and walking towards the brunette man.

He sniffed, curiously, before he was all over him, sniffing and nudging, even giving a playful nip once or twice. Tenzo seemed oddly delighted, and the wolf forced his head under the man’s palm.

“I have changed my mind. I like him.” he stated plainly, and Tsunade looked more exhausted from this odd spirit than she ever had in the time I’d known her.

“Why is that?” I asked, and he hummed, nosing his hip.

“He smells nice. Like every kind of wood imaginable. Odd, but soothing.” the wolf’s eyes sparkled, as he turned to face me, rushing towards me as he nudged my jaw, “He’d make an incredible mate for the Alpha Bitch!”

I heard Tsunade choke on her sake, and I glared at the wolf, “Absolutely not.”

“Who knows, it could be destined,” he gambled, and I sighed exasperatedly.

“He’s never even met her.”

“All the better! He won’t know how undesirable she is until after he agrees! Although, he’ll have to fight for the right to claim as that puny Inuzuka is in the way, but it shouldn’t be too much of a challenge!” he yipped, and I glanced at Tenzo, who was properly modified.

“She’s not undesirable, don’t say that!” I scolded, not even beginning to allow myself to think that I was arguing with an overzealous spirit in a room full of hidden ANBU and a few chunin, as well as my Hokage.

“Perhaps not, but the Wood Molder will not know until he meets her!”

“You really don’t like Kouji, do you?” I sigh, and the wolf gives me a doggy-grin.

“Absolutely not! I shall let Freyja be aware that I will not be returning, but instead staying here, to observe the ways of these deadly creatures, far more lethal than anyone else I’ve met!” he bounced back over to the ‘Wood Molder,’ who hesitantly put a hand on his head.

“He’s nearly as old as I am.” I pointed out, and the metal melter looked unbothered, but in fact, joyed by this fact.

“That merely means that when he dies, the Alpha Bitch gets his treasures, and might not even have to bear pups! It’s splendid!”

“You are  _ mortifying _ . You’re taking years off my life by speaking.”

“Well, certainly, that can’t be many more.” he quipped, and I stared at the large wolf, whose tail was wagging happily.

“What.” I said, and the wolf cocked its head innocently.

“I have heard that in old age, humans’ hair becomes white, or grey! So by process of facts, despite your youthful appearance, you must be in your old age!”

I heard Naruto burst into peals of laughter, and snickers from the other few chunin in the room.

“No. I’m only 28.” I blandly reply.

“Oh. So that is your natural coloring, then?”

“Yes, Kin. It is my natural coloring.” I sigh, and the wolf hums, nudging the ANBU’s arm insistently until he began to scratch him behind his ears, and to my utter amazement, his back leg began to thump wildly against the hardwood flooring.

“I like this human. This one is my favorite,” he turned sparkling gunmetal eyes to me, “Can we keep him?”

“Kin, he’s a person, you can’t just- just  _ keep  _ people.”

“But he’s proper  _ pack  _ material! We can’t just let it go to waste!”

“It’s not. He’s protecting Lady Tsunade.”

“She can protect herself. I’m keeping him and you can’t stop me.”

“I like him. He’s soft.” Tenzo muttered, and Kin grinned at me.

“See! He wants to be kept!”

“Kin,  _ shut up.  _ We’re going home.” I glare, and the wolf whines, before glancing around the room, before locking eyes on Tenzo’s tanto.

_ ‘There’s no way he can..’ _ I thought, but of course, he could, and did so. Kin pulled it out of it’s sheath, much to the voiced displeasure of it’s keeper, and  _ moulded himself into the fucking metal.  _ I felt my eye twitch, and Tenzo stared at the tanto, before hesitantly sheathing it.

“Neko,” I warned, but he was already moulding himself into the wood of the floor, and I blinked. I just witnessed a kidnapping. Great. Lovely. Just how I wanted to spend my day.

My eye began to twitch, and I felt slightly hysterical.

“I think.. I think I’m going to go to the  _ pack  _ house.” I muttered, and Sakura sympathetically patted by shoulder.

I body flickered most of the way there, pinching the bridge of my nose as I arrived, walking to the cabinets and grabbing a chakra-bar.

I chewed on it, turning, and staring at the mist-nin who were raiding Freyja’s weapons-scrolls.

“Get outside.” I muttered, and they looked at me strangely, and I glared, “Your blood will be too hard to get out of the walls.  _ Get. Outside. _ ” I snarled, and they dropped the stuff, being herded rather easily into the clearing, where they foolishly tried to run. I quickly brought them to their demise, and frowned at the three bodies.

“Kakashi-senpai.” I glanced up, seeing Tenzo tilting his head at me, as he held out the tanto.

“Yes, Tenzo?”

“Kin asks us to please go inside while he disposes of the bodies.” he chirped, and I nodded, tired and in need of a nap.

“Okay.”

In seconds, the wolf was out of the tanto and stretching on the ground, as he eyes the nins’ bodies.

I opened the door for Tenzo, glancing back and nearly toppling over at the sight of Kin literally devouring the nin. I rushed inside, along with the wood release user, and sighed, handing him a chakra-ration instinctually.

“This is made out of wood. Weird wood.” he commented, and I paused.

“Oh, yeah. It’s good for chakra.” I hummed, and he nodded. He unwrapped it, chewing it and blinking in slight surprise.

“My chakra reserves are being.. restored.”

“Yup.”

“How interesting.”

Kin came in a second later, dropping four bloody femurs in the sink. I blinked at him, and he licked his blood-stained muzzle, some of the excess dripping off of him and onto the floor.

“Can you wash three off for me and give me the other one? I like the copper taste.” his tail thumped against the floor, eyes wide and pleading, and I glanced outside. The bodies were gone, all that was left in their place was blood-stained ground.

“Good boy.” I praised, scratching him behind his ear, and he lost his  _ fucking mind _ . He went completely dog-minded, barking and circling around me and nudging me, before moving to Tenzo and doing the same, tail wagging dangerously fast.

I grabbed a femur bone, tossing it to him as I began to wash the other three off, blinking as he went and curled up on the floor, gnawing on it and licking the blood off.

“Wow.” I muttered, and Tenzo nodded.

“I like him.”

“Good, because you’d be hard pressed to get rid of him, now.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> snippets of things that have happened at some point in the pack house, because yall deserve some fluff before this next chapter.

It’s two days later, and Kin was yet again in the ANBU’s tanto, and Tenzo and I were quite interested in seeing exactly what it did.

We had moved to another clearing, away from Freyja’s home --or the  _ pack  _ house as it was now being referred to-- to test it.

The wood release nin drew the tanto, and made a broad swipe with it, blinking when it did nothing.

I blinked, too, lifitng my hiatai in perfect time to see scorching metal rods pierce out of the trees and I tilted my head as they retreated back into the trees, black scorch marks the only sign they were ever there.

“Stab it into the ground.” I said, and the younger brunette nodded, doing so.

Metal spikes, about three inches thick at the base, and tapering down to a sharp point, erupted from the ground in a semi-circle around us, going as far as 15 feet.

“Holy hell.” he muttered, and I nodded.

“Holy hell is right,” a different voice remarked from behind us, and I narrowed my eyes at the man.

Noritaka Inoshishi was a lawful man, but he was twisted and morally incorrect, but did his job with efficiency and accuracy, with no complaints. Tenzo stiffened as well, and I saw the tanto spark threateningly, like a kunai had just been harshly scraped against it.

“Say, what kind of tanto is that? Don’t think I’ve seen one like it.” he hummed, sliding his mask off his face and jumping down to us, but before he could walk very close, spikes shifted, and were behind us now, too.

_ ‘Kin, you beautiful bastard. I will give you all the femurs in the world if you keep that defense up.’ _

“Woah there, a bit trigger happy, no?” his smile was unsettling, and I turned to face him.

“What do you want?” I asked, blandly, and the man nodded towards the tanto.

“How much?” he asked, and Tenzo glared at him.

“You can find one just like this at the weapons’ shop downtown.” he mused, and the unsettling man gave him a dead look.

“Then how are you doing all of this,” he waved towards the metal spiked that were still littering the clearing.

“I’m not.” he responded simply, and Noritaka gave an unbelieving hum.

“Oh really?” I glanced at the tanto, noticing it had lost a golden gleam it had before.

“Really.”

“I need you to back away from my Alphas, Inoshishi-san.” Kin’s voice was murderous, and I glanced at the bristled canine, with razor sharp teeth bared and body tensed, ready for a fight.

“Oh? Is this a summon?”

“Spirit, asshole.” he spits, “Back.  _ Up. _ ” the tone is harsh and commanding, and Kin rounds to stand in front of us, bleeding in and out of the spikes effortlessly, before he stands between us and the taller male.

“How much?” he asks, glancing at me, tilting his head, “He’d make an excellent weapon.”

“He’s not for sale. He’s a Haztanukai spirit.” Tenzo responds, going to place his hand on Kin’s back.

“I wouldn’t do that, he looks like he’ll bite.”

The wood release user reaches forward, snatching Kin’s jaw and leading him to his neck, where he slots the wolf’s jaws. The golden wolf is completely still, barely even breathing over what would be a fatal wound.

“He won’t bite me.” Tenzo deadpans, and he gently pushes the wolfs head away, who circles, before laying beside him, like an obedient dog. This is a kunai he’s thrown before, I realize, a scenario he’s been in with Freyja.

“Everything has a price, and that’s a pretty pelt he’s got.” I snarl, glaring at the man.

“He’s not for sale. End of story.”

Tenzo reaches into his bag, pulling out a scroll before opening it, releasing its contents, and tossing Kin his femur bone, which he idly gnaws on.

“Where’d you get a bone that big for him?”

“An enemy nin’s leg.” I deadpan, and watch various emotions flicker through his eyes as he tried to decide if I’m serious or not. 

“Well, Kakashi, I’m sure a Haztanukai won’t notice one spirits missing,”

“Well either you're an idiot, or you’re trying to get me to kill you.”

I glanced at the female who was sitting in the tree, I hadn’t even noticed her approaching us.

“Ah, it’s good to see you again Freyja.” I smile, and she hums, staring at Noritaka, who turned to stare at her.

She hums, idly running her forked tongue over the tip of her fangs, as she watched. She pressed onto her wrist, summoning her normal katana, not the black one. Without further instructions, Kin slinks into the sword, and she sheaths it on her back.

“I'm sure you understand the offense that it is to attempt to kill or buy a Haztanukai spirit outside of missions and war time, don’t you?” she asked, tilting her head languidly, face masked off and cold.

“I’m not, but I’m sure you could inform me.”

“Well, it’s punishable by death.” she states, simply, regarding him as a predator would a gnat: a minor inconvenience, at most.

I raise a brow, before sharing a tentative glance with Tenzo, where exactly was she going with this?

“I’m sure you can understand how much it pains me to do this, Inoshishi-san,” she drawls, and suddenly he’s bound with chakra wire, “But I nor Lady Tsunade appreciate it.”

“I’m your superior!” he barks, glaring something fierce, “Unleash me.”

“I’m an asset to Kohana, not one of it’s nin, an asset. Nothing more nothing less,” she corrects, “You are not my superior. I answer to the Lady Hokage, no one else. I think you boys can handle it from here.”

I shift slightly, detecting the ANBU hidden away in the trees.

One of them jumps out, nodding to Freyja, before grabbing Noriaki and jumping away, taking the rest of it’s squad with them.

She jumped down, and the metal melted into the ground as her feet hit it.

“Thank you for protecting my spirit, Tenzo. He appreciates your kindness and loyalty.” her eyes are tired, but kind, an Tenzo flushes.

“Oh, it’s no problem.”

She just hums, setting a gentle hand on his arm, before turning to me.

“So, how has your week been?”

*

Things were good, and they were beginning to seem like maybe this sybalence of peace would last.

“Oh my  _ god! _ ” Sakura shrieked, shoving Freyja, who was cackling madly.

“I’m just saying, Sakura! Ino, does what I'm saying make sense?”

The girl to her left gave a complentative hum, “It does make sense in the grand scheme of things, I mean, shinobi put their life on the line. It would only make sense that they put their all into uh,  _ stuff  _ like that.”

Currently, the three of them were having ‘girl time’ in Freyja’s room, which Tenzo, Neji and I had the unfortunate luck of being roped into. Freyja was painting the Hyuga’s toenails a light lavender, almost the same shade as his eyes; they had styled his hair into double braids earlier, and had managed to make me promise to let them do my fingernails. 

Pakkun was curled up on the bed with Kin, Dorje, Suotomo and Guadalupe, who were all puppy piled on top of eachother, with him lying on Kin’s neck at the top like king. He was taking immense pleasure in my slight awkwardness.

I closed my book as Ino finished Tenzo’s nails, the ANBU humming happily as he looked at the black nail polish: it was done with not one flaw, and he had decided on a glossy top coat, instead on a matte one, like Neji and I had.

He had his mask off, as Tsunade had nearly had an aneurysm when he’d told her Freyja had seen his face, although she calmed down when I told her she would’ve found him eventually anyways. When he’d asked if he could entrust our little group with his idenity, she’d waved him off and pulled out a bottle of sake, muttering “fuck it.” under her breath.

“Done.” Freyja said, and Neji smiled at the barely-there color. He hadn’t wanted it to be too noticeable. I felt my heart drop as she turned her sights to me, “Give me your hand, Kashi.”

I sighed, but did as she asked, and I pulled back out Icha Icha, reading it as she painted my nails. It was quite relaxing, actually.

I liked how it looked, too, but I’d take that secret to my grave.

*

“Hi Iruka!” Freyja chirped as she stood at the mission desk. She’d completed the Sandamine’s request the day she got back, without any of us knowing, much to Naruto’s displeasure. He’d wanted to watch her do it.

“Oh, hello Freyja, I didn’t know you were back in the village.” he said, kindly, before giving me a suspicious side eye, “What brings both of you here?”

“Oh, y’know, just wanted to see my favorite chu-” she said, flushing, and I cut her off.

“What’s Naruto’s birthday?”

“I’m taking you out of my will.” she stated, blankly, and Iruka chuckled.

“The feeling is mutual.” I replied back, and she huffed.

“You’re just mad because I won’t repaint your nails.” she accused, and I saw Genma turn and look at me in bewilderment out the corner of my eye. Actually, most of the people in the mission room were.

“Hey, it started chipping and I can’t do it myself.”

“You can master a thousand jutsu’s but can’t paint nails? Yeah, sure.”

“I can’t do it and read-”

“Make a clone do it-”

“Why don’t you just do it-”

“You painted your nails?” Kurenai cut in, “Oh, I’ve got to see this.”

We never ended up learning Naruto’s birthday.

*

“Who gave you  _ rights?!”  _ Freyja screamed across the house, and Naruto stared at the previously-on-fire oven that was sitting in the kitchen.

He had attempted to boil cereal.

These kids made me want to have a clone chidori me.

*

“Why did you buy eight full bags of tomatoes? You’re not going to eat all of them!”

“You clearly underestimate my Uchiha poweress.”

*

“Ino, can you pass me the pepper?”

“Sure!”

“Ino, these are flower seeds.”

*

“Hey, Shikamaru?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you know how tall you are?”

“Troublesome.”

“I’m going to feed you to the fucking ants-”

*

“Neji? Can you-”

“No, Haztanukai  _ mutt. _ ”

“I’m sorry I messed up your nails, I’ll redo them, and I’ll even do your eyeliner again.”

“Okay.”

“Good, now can you hand me the noodles please?”

*

“Kouji, stop pinching my hip fat!”

“But it’s so  _ squishy!” _

_ “Kiba!  _ Come get your cousin!”

“That creep is  _ not  _ my cousin!”

*

“Sakura! Have you seen my books?”

“Oh, yeah I borrowed some, I’m sorry.”

“Sakura, my whole fucking shelf is missing.”

“Sorry. I’m trying to think of a way to convince Iruka-sensei and Kakashi to date.”

“I’m not dating him.”

“Shut it, Kashi. Sakura, did you take the titless green book?”

*

“Hey, Kashi?”

“Yes?”

“Can I do your eyeliner?”

“Why would I let you- you know what? Sounds great. Please put the kunai down.”

*

All in all, they were a really weird and dysfunctional family, but it worked. They made it work. Honestly, it’s gotten to the point where I couldn’t imagine life without one of them, oddly enough.

It just wouldn’t feel right, wouldn’t be worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> grab ur tissues folks.
> 
> warning: depictions of violence

Honestly, no one saw it coming.

As far as everyone knew, Freyja was the only Haztanukai as of now able to retain spirits. ‘As far as anyone knew’ being the key phrase.

“That’s impossible.” Kiba says, looking at the mission description, before looking at Tsunade, “I thought Freyja was the only one left?”

“Apparently not.” Sasuke muttered, and Freyja hums from the otherside of the room.

“Either way, who better to defeat a Haztanukai than a Haztanukai?” she points out, and I shrug. She has a point there.

“This might be someone you know Freyja, are you su-” the look the girl gives Kouji is enough to shut him up. 

“Let’s just get this over with.”

That was four hours ago. Now, Naruto was nursing a serious wound, Shikamaru’s chakra was depleted, with Kouji and Kiba not doing much better; Neji had been knocked out from a particularly rough blow to the head, Sakura and Ino were still fighting with one of the other Haztanukai’s friends, while Sasuke and Dorje tried to fend off one of it’s feline companions. 

It's all gone to shit so quickly, one minute we were jumping into a clearing, the next we were being assaulted by kunai and various jutsu’s.

I glanced at Freyja, where she was fighting the unnamed Haztanukai, and it didn’t seem to be going so well.

I glare back at the masked nin, he just seemed to be keeping the attacked coming. I go to create the chidori, but all of a sudden spike is protruding from his chest, and he gurgles on his blood, before it drops back into the ground. 

It suddenly happened to all the human enemies of the field, but the cats are agile, and jump away too quickly.

Blood drips out of her mouth and nose, and she glares at the other girl.

“Is this what you wanted, Ni? Is it?” she yelled, and the other glares back, just as fierce.

“They took me away from you! Kohana hurt you! I can’t stand it,” a fist curls at the shorter girls side, and she locks eyes with her, “so it must burn.”

Her spirits surround her, touching her in one way or another, and Freyja’s form trembles, “That’s a forbidden jutsu! It’ll kill you!”

“It’s not like you weren’t going to kill me first!” she screams back, still flying through the motions. Freyja turns to me, her eyes are wide, scared.

“Kashi..” she mutters, and I’m by her side in seconds.

“What is it, Frey?”

“If I don't.. If I don't stop her, she’ll kill all of us with this.” she whispers, and she clutches my arm, desperately, “You can’t let them see my body after this, Kakashi.” her voice is serious, and I pause.

“What do you mean.”

“This jutsu I have to do, it’ll kill me,” she murmurs, before Naruto and the others land beside us.

“Nee-chan, what is she doing?”

“She’s performing a forbidden jutsu: Spirit Release: Transformation Technique.”

“How are we gonna stop her?” Sakura asks, voice trembling, and she pauses.

“I’m going to, but this fight will be dangerous for anyone in the vicinity, you all have to leave. Please.”

“We can’t just leave you!” Sasuke protests, and she whirls around, glaring at him.

“Then all of us will die! I have the best chance of surviving against her when she completes the jutsu, and I can’t be focused on not hurting you guys in the process.”

“What jutsu are you going to do?” Kouji asks, Neji slung over his shoulder, and she sighs.

“The same one, but since I have an Elite Spirit, it probably won’t kill me.”

I glanced at her, and she shakes her head minutely.

“Okay nee-chan! Let’s go guys, so she can kick major ass!” Naruto smirks, “Believe it!”

Kouji knows, though, and he rushes forward, cupping her face and crashing his lips onto hers. I see tears slip down his face, and Freyja’s form trembles with held back sobs.

“Spirit Release: Transformation Technique!”

I turn to stare at the girl. The ground shakes beneath our feet, and a white light surrounds her. I blink, and when I reopen my eyes, a three-headed beast stands before us, roaring so loud the trees tremble and snap around us.

“Go, I love you guys.” she says, and the chunin and ANBU nod, jumping away quickly, “Take care of them Kashi.” she whispers, and I disappear into the trees, but stay to watch. 

She moves through the hand signs quickly, as her four spirits crowd around her. She’s crying, sobs racking her body as she yells, voice hoarse.

“Spirit Release: Transformation Technique!”

I’m not surprised at how much bigger the beast is than Ni’s, it’s three, snarling heads towering over the cats’ form. 

The battle seems to lasts for ages, and I give a small smile as Kin, whose head is in the middle, sinks his teeth into the leopard's throat, pinning it before snapping its neck. The flash happens again, and a mangled girls body lays where the beast once was.

Another flash, and- I nearly puke, as I jump, racing through the clearing as I collapse beside the mangled girl: bones protrude through her legs, and her chest heaves with painful breaths as blood pools around her, and pours out of her eyes, nose, mouth, god there’s so much blood.

“Kashi, Kashi?” she calls, her eyes are wide, scared, pupils dilated and darting around. A rib poked through her shirt. “It hurts,” she sobs, and I grab her hand. She squeezes it back, “Kashi it hurts. It hurts, it hurts, make it stop!” she cries, as she withers on the ground.

I bite back a sob, “Hey, I’m right here Freyja, I’m not gonna leave you, okay?” I don’t know what to say, her hand is cold and weak in mind, and I feel my chest contract painfully.

“Kashi, Kakashi,” she calls, and I stroke her bloodied hair.

“What is it, Frey? What do you need?”

She weakly rolls her head towards me, tears flowing and mixing with the blood.

“Lie to me.” she whispers, and the pain in my chest is so strong I almost think someone has shoved their arm through it.

“You’re gonna be okay, Freyja, it’s gonna be okay.” I murmur, the words bitter and venomous on my tongue. I gently move her so I can hold her, cradle her weak body against mine. She gives a weak sob of protest.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry Freyja.” I whisper into her hair, and she trembles against me.

“Kasshii,” her words are slurred, and I can feel a small, sad smile against my collar bone, “I can’t smell.”

The words hit me like a punch to the gut.

“I know,” I don’t know, but what do I say? She’s dying in my arms, smiling like all of this is okay. “I know, you’re gonna be fine, you won't be hurting for much longer.” well that wasn’t a lie, and I can’t stop the bitter sob-chuckle the escapes me.

“Take,” she gasps in a breath, “Take care of them, Kashi. And.. and take care of.. of Tadeo.”

“Who’s Tadeo?” I ask, and I feel her blink, slowly.

“My son. I was, I was visiting him in, in Suna.” I feel my skin beginning to become tacky from the blood seeping through my shirt. “Go to the- the compound, and ask- ask for-” she gives a shuddering breath, “Ask for Yoko.”

“Okay, okay I will, you’re gonna be okay Freyja, just hang on, okay?” no one would be able to get here in time, she’s dying in my arms, and I can feel one of her bones pressing into my thigh.

“I’m sorry, Kashi. ‘Ell them, tell them I love them. And I’m, I’m sorry.” she whispers, voice weak.

“They know Freyja, they know. They love you too.” I mumble into her hair.

“I love you, Kashi, I missed having a brother.” my breath hitches, and my chest convulses painfully.

“I love you, too Freyja. You’re a little sister to me.”

She smiles, it’s weak, and I can feel her heartbeat waning. “I’m tired, ni-san.” she’s becoming slightly delirious with blood loss, I realize.

“I know, go to sleep imouto, it’s okay.” I comfort, eyes stinging, and I close my sharingan. I can’t see her die, can’t remember it with the clarity the sharingan possess.

“Ni-san, can I see your face before I go?” she murmurs, and I nodded, leaning back. Glassy brown eyes staring up at me, and I pull down my mask. “You’re pretty.” she murmurs, and I give a wet chuckle.

“Thank you, imouto.” I smile at her, and she blinks. It’s silent for a few minutes, before she weakly lays her head against my flak jacket.

“Ni-san, I can’t see.” she whispers, and I hold her tighter.

“It’s okay, imouto, you can let go.” I sob, and she gives a small hum.

“You better put my name on that stupid fucking stone.” she teases, and I laugh, because what a Freyja thing to say while she’s on the cusp of dying.

“Of course, imouto. Of course.”

“I,” she heaves a breath, “I love you, ni-san.”

“I love you too, imouto.”

She hums happily, and I feel her breaths weaken against me, before they slow to a stop. I cradle her cooling, pale face in my gloved hands, wiping a bit of blood away. I pulled my mask back up, before picking her up, bridal style.

Third Person.

Naruto grinned as he sat on the hospital bed, Tsnuade grumbling as she healed his side. 

“Where’s Freyja?” she asked, and Sakura shrugged.

“She stayed behind to fight the Haztanukai, something about the forbidden jutsu, she’s probably on her way ba-”

“Forbidden jutsu?” the Slug Sannin asked, staring at Sakura, “What was it called?”

“Spirit Release: Transformation Technique.” Neji response, voice hesitant, he doesn't want to ask but, “Why?”

“That’s a forbidden jutsu for a reason, that idiot.” she curses, but her tone is sad and heavy.

“Why is it forbidden?” Sasuke needs to know, because god dammit if it’s what he thinks it is he’s going to murder her-

“It has a 100% mortality rate.” she says, and Naruto freezes.

‘Mortality rate- 100%- I have an Elite Spirit, it probably won’t kill me- she’s dead she’s gone she lied she lied she’s dead she lied she lied sheliedsheliedshelied-’

His thoughts jumbled together, and he barely registers Sasuke screaming, “Dammit!” and punching the wall, producing a spider web of cracks.

“But she said since she had an elite spirit, it probably wouldn’t kill her.” he mutters, and Tsunade puts a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“It’s the exact opposite, actually. I don’t blame her for not wanting any of you there when she dispelled the jutsu- the bodies are always so mangled.” she shakes her head, “Where’s Kakashi?”

“He stayed with her.” Ino whispers, hands trembling.

It’s quiet for a few minutes, and then the door opens.

Pakkun’s normally sullen face looks down-right devastated, and he looks as Tsunade.

“Boss wants you. Says not to let the kids follow you.”

“Like hell!” Kiba yelled, standing up, “We have a right to see her!” Akamaru barked in agreement, and Pakkun glares.

“You don’t want to, I could’ve gone all my years and never seen that, and would’ve been better for it.” he snaps, and Tsunade stands, following him out the door soundlessly.

The woman’s heart clenches at the sight in the hospital room.

Kakashi is soaked in blood, and his arms tremble, in which he holds the taller girl. Her femur snapped in half and sticking out the side of her right thigh, pressing into the Copy-nin’s hip; a rib is sticking through her shirt, and her left kneecap is sitting on the outside of her leg, and she can see the bone protruding from a tear.

Her mouth his parted slightly, and blood is trailing in every direction on her face. She performs a few hand signs, clasping her hands down on the deceased girls shoulders: her organs are shifted and ruptured, multiple ribs are cracked, and her sternum is broken.

“Kakashi I’m..” she trails off as the silver haired ninja shakes his head.

“Can you make her.. presentable?” he asked, eye dead, and Tsunade nods.

“I’ll try my best. Go see the kids. They need you.”

When Kakashi enters the room, Sakura doesn’t bother to stifle her gasp. He doesn’t blame her, he’s covered in blood; her blood.

“Is she?” Kouji asks, and he just nods, feeling the blood slide off his fingertips and hit the floor.

“Tsunade is making her prestable.” her murmurs, and Shikamaru speaks up.

“Did she say anything, or leave anything?”

“Well, she left ‘I love you’s and a son.”

“She had a son?” Neji asks, and Kakashi nods.

“His name is Tadeo, and I’m supposed to go to the Inuzuka compound and ask for a woman named Yoko.” he recites, and they nod.

“Can I go with you?” Naruto asks, and he shrugs.

“I don’t see why not.”

“I’m excited to meet him,” Sakura smiles, “I bet he’s going to be a little devil.”

“He’s Freyja’s kid, I wouldn’t expect anything less.” Shikamaru comments, and they chuckle.

They don’t talk about how he probably came to be.

Tsunade comes in about an hour later, eyes sad and tired.

“She’s as good as she’s gonna get just.. don't move the covers.” she says, before leading them out the door.

Shikamaru had gotten over his romantic feelings for Freyja, but personally, he found it a criminal offense how pretty she was, even dead. That was a morbid thought, but their lives were morbid, so at this point, who cares?

She almost looked like she was sleeping, except she wasn’t breathing and there was blood bleeding through the hospital blankets. Her hair was spread out messily behind her, and he found himself absent-mindedly hoping that Tadeo had her hair, and her eyes.

He rubbed the palm of her hand, which hadn’t been burnt like a good ¾ of her arm, and dropped his forehead on the bed. God, why was it always the best people who had a stupid fucking sacrafical-hero complex? 

He guessed he’ll never know.

Sasuke was.. angry. So fucking angry, it shook his soul and rattled his bones and slammed around inside of his head, but it was all gone once he saw her laying there, because she was gone, for real this time.

Freyja never had a problem throwing herself in the line of fire, and that bothered him. It was like she had no care for her life, like she had no problem dying, but he knew that wasn’t it. She loved them all, they were family, a big, dumb family, but family nontheless.

And then he was mad again; not at Freyja for being gone, but because that other chick was going to probably level Kohana, and without a second thought, she gave her life up, and she was going to be put on the memorial stone and forgotten by the world. 

Not if Sasuke had anything to say about it. He stepped forward brushing her bangs away from her eyes slightly; Freyja wouldn’t just become another name on the stone. He wouldn’t let her.

No one dares to speak; they don’t want to accept that it’s real, because then that means she’s actually gone, and there’s no hope of her being magically okay like there was before.

“So what the fuck do we do, now?” Sasuke asks, “She’s got a son she entrusted us to take care of. We’re just kids ourselves.”

“We could all always move in together. The house is big enough,” Neji points out, and Sakura sighs.

“It was one thing to stay there, but moving from Kohana.. it’s a big step.” she says, and Naruto sighs.

“She’s right. We can all stay in Kohana, but who would take care of Tadeo while we’re gone?” he says, and Kakashi shifts.

“You could all move into the Hatake compound. We could get Iruka or Genma to babysit.” he proposes, and before they can answer, Freyja’s body spasms.

There’s a slight rumbling, and they turn to the far end of the hospital room.

“So.. don’t scream.” the two headeed wolf says, and Ino lets out a breath of relief.

“She was right, you all are terrifying.” she mumbles, glancing at Suotomo, who know had three other eyes and hooves.

“Thanks.” Guadalupe, the second head, mutters, and that must be what Freyja meant when she told them they’re a package deal.

Kin has multiple legs, like a fucking spider, and an open mouth in the middle of his chest. His eyes are iris-less, just.. black holes, almost. It gives Kiba the creeps, and Akamaru is already hiding under the hospital bed.

“We came to see you before we descended, as we won’t see you for awhile.” Guadalupe explains, and Sasuke narrows his eyes.

“Don’t you mean ‘ever again’?” he asks, and Suotomo shakes his head, and Kakashi notes that he has a small set of horns, too, with dangling strings with beads on them.

“No. We’ve staked claim for Tadeo. Can’t get rid of us that easily.” he replies, and Shikamaru smiles.

“That’s nice to know.” the Nara murmurs, and Guadalupe nods.

“You guys are going to love Tadeo, he’s a little hellion. He’s got strong Nara genes, he beat Yoko’s grandson, who’s 15, in shogi and I’ve never seen a teenage consider throwing themselves more than in that moment.” she rambles, and Dorje hums.

“At least he looks like Freyja. He’s got weird ass eyes, though.” he yelps as Guadalupe nips his ear, “I’m just saying!”

“Don’t be rude to him, Guada, he’s mourning his own body.” Kin drawled, and the now-furred wolf scoffed.

“We’ve been like this for eterites. He’ll be fine.”

“Not if I’m stuck like this I won’t be.” he muttered, and Naruto piped up.

“How old is Tadeo?”

“He just turned four. I know it’s going to be hard, but I’d recommend getting him quickly.” Guada said, frowning, “Freyja’s brother is trying to claim him as his own, so he can utilize his spirits.” she huffed.

“Her brother fucking sucks.” Kin grunted, and Dorje made an agreeing noise.

“He used me as target practice. Fucking menace.” 

“Thank you for coming to see us, you guys.” Neji said, smiling tiredly at them, and Suotomo just sighed.

“It’s no problem,we didn’t mind.”

“It’s not the first time we’ve seen her die!” Kin yipped, and Guada twisted, biting his cheek.

“She wasn’t dead! She was just almost dead.” she corrects, and Dorje grunts.

“We've got to go guys, but we’ll see you again sometime, okay? Just don’t fucking die. I’m looking at you, Hyuga.”

“What?”

But they were already gone.


	14. Chapter 14

hi!!!! im going to be revamping this fic, editing, and changing a lot, or maybe just a few, things! so, this will be branded as the 'old' fic! that's all sjdcklsd


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